Jumbled Musings
by nicnicd
Summary: A little of this, a little of that. Possible POV's run the gamut. Happy, sad, silly, dark. Rated M, just in case the thought springs up. A hodge podge of contest entries, prompts, etc.
1. Elementary

_a few related prompts from my december witfit entries. _

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**Prompt: Elementary**

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Edward bustled around the kitchen haphazardly, narrowly avoiding bumping into the small stack of glasses left on the counter from the night before. The kitchen looked like a scene from a bad movie about single fathers and their slovenly, bumbling housekeeping. Dishes were stacked in random piles and the refrigerator door hung open still, though he swore he had shut it.

His daughter sat at the kitchen table, studiously finishing her homework assignments and ignoring her father's mumbling. Second grade math was, after all, very difficult… She was used to the way her father ran about the kitchen two nights a week as he tried to make her dinner. Tonight the menu included French fries and dino-nuggets, because he knew it was her favorite.

"Dad," she said, giggling at the large grease stain now firmly settled into his white dress shirt, "you're gonna burn the house down if you don't slow down."

He glanced over to her, once again struck by just how much she looked and acted like her mother. Her hair fell in a straight sheet down her back as she sat amidst a pile of books. She had his eyes, but her mother's nose. Altogether, she was a startling combination of them both, so heartbreakingly beautiful that it hurt sometimes to look at her. He'd met her mother in the library while in college, where she'd been surrounded by towering stacks of books and papers. She was the prettiest thing he had ever seen.

He _missed_ her mother.

Edward had never gotten over his ex-wife—the divorce papers that had been served to him while he sat in the office of his small town general practice had been a surprise, gutting him completely. He was sure that after the hellish years of med school, endless studying and intern rotations that once they had settled into the life of a small town doctor and his spouse, they would be okay.

Obviously, he had been mistaken.

She seemed happy the first few years of his practice, settling into the tiny community with ease and grace. Her smile, wide and infectious, always his favorite feature of hers, paved the way to the inhabitant's hearts and trust of the young doctor. When she'd gotten pregnant, gift baskets and well wishes flowed like wine.

The practice had taken its toll on their marriage, though. House calls to the elderly or rural came more often than he had anticipated, taking him away from his family. She had grown bored, feeling as if she and his daughter were the last thing on his mind. She'd been so removed, cold, so _unlike_ herself when he'd gone home that night and demanded to know what was going on.

"_I'm sorry, Edward," she whispered, looking up to him with tear filled eyes. "I tried, I did. I just… I feel so alone, all the time. I can't live this way. I won't allow my baby to grow up this way."_

"Daaaaad," she whined, breaking into his thoughts. "Something's burning."

With a low oath he turned to the stove, noticing the beginnings of smoke that poured out of it. "Sweetheart, go in the living room," he warned, grabbing a towel off of the counter and heading toward the disaster.

Batting away the thick, black smoke when he opened the door, he waited for it to clear before bending in and grabbing the charred remains of dinner out with the towel. He tossed it in the sink and turned the water on. The sizzle of cool water meeting hot metal crackled through the air just as the loud buzzing noise of his fire alarm began to sound.

His shoulders drooped, head hanging down to peer at his feet as he groaned. This was the third time in as many weeks that he had ruined dinner. He wasn't a very good cook; his wi—_ex-wife_had always taken care of that responsibility.

Dejected, he turned back to the stove, flipping the dials to 'off' before removing the fries from the grease, too. Once everything was disposed of, he grabbed a broom and made his way down the hall to the fire alarm that was still bleating annoyingly. With a few quick jabs of the broom, silence once more settled over the small two bedroom house that was now home.

He missed _his_ house.

"Sweetie," he called out, heading back toward the living room. "Do you want to go get dinner? We can have whatever you want."

"Sure dad," she smiled up at him, a ray of sunshine amidst his gloom. "Can we have McDonalds?"

It was at least an hour drive to the nearest town that housed Ronald and his cohorts, but Edward shrugged and smiled down at his little girl. "That sounds good. Let me… change first," he grimaced down at his now sooty and greasy shirt.

He passed the spare bedroom, done in an array of girly pinks and purples, Barbie dolls laying in a heap on the floor and made his way to his sparsely furnished room. Save for the care he had put into his daughter's room, the entire house was cold, unfriendly... Lacking. Just like him.

He missed his _life._

The phone rang as he was in his room buttoning up his shirt, and he called out for the little girl to answer it. As he reentered the living room, Renesmee held the phone out to him. "Dad, it's mom."

"Bella," he breathed, voice shaky as it always was when he spoke to her now. "Hello."

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**Prompt: afterglow**

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Bella paced the overly large family room feeling alone and anxious. She didn't like being in the large house by herself, and missed the simple comforts her daughter's presence provided. She was all laughter and endless questions, possessing an energetic sprit to fill the empty void left in her heart. These were the things she yearned for every other weekend, and life wasn't right until Sunday night rolled around.

She'd only ever wanted a simple life. To be a mother and a wife, to care for her home and her family. To be loved and love in return. Her parents had it once, though it hadn't worked out for them. She thought she could do better, could prove her mother's cynicism about marriage wrong.

What was once a girlish fantasy of hers had been set into play her sophomore year of college. One night, as she sat researching a paper in the library, an obscenely handsome boy had stumbled across her. All brazen confidence and angular features, he'd stolen her breath. Without even an invitation, he'd plopped his books down, and sprawling his long legs out had grabbed a seat next to her.

Jokes and sly glances led to the exchange of phone numbers that night, phone calls and more library meetings to 'study' over the coming weeks leading to their first date. Bella, having led a somewhat quiet existence until then, was unprepared for his wooing ways and fed head-over-heels almost instantly.

Always more content to watch from the sidelines rather than be an active participant in any given social scene, the college experience for her had been somewhat…lacking until she met Edward. A medical student, heavy into fraternity life and well known around campus, he was the antithesis to her bookwormish persona.

Slowly, she learned to come out of her shell. Thrown into the mix of parties and tailgating, she'd found herself enjoying the life he offered. Though she had never really seemed to fit in, she had tried her best to blend into the scene. The girls were fa more shallow than she, but Edward and his constant, unyeilding love made it all seem worth it.

Throughout the endless tests and studying, she'd stayed by his side, offering freely her attention when he needed a break. More than once he'd snuck into her dorm room after she'd gone to sleep, exhausted and past struggling to wait up for his call, to surprise her with late night take-out and kisses that led to more. Intern rotations had been hard on them. She rarely saw him, and when she did he was so tired that it seemed a chore for him to want much more than a hot meal and a soft bed.

She'd missed him.

Finally, it was over. He got an offer in the small town he'd grown up in, and they'd moved from Washington to just outside of Chicago. A small ceremony when they arrived, planned by his mother and sister, had started them as husband and wife. Only Charlie and Renee had sat on her side for it, the rest of her friends across the country and working on starting their own lives.

All of her friends, her family… they'd all been left behind so that Bella and Edward could go where he was needed. His family was nice, but stuffy. Often, Bella felt as if she didn't measure up to their eyes. Not pretty enough, nor smart. Her parent's decidedly middle class lifestyle, and her subsequent upbringing, were a world apart from the champagne and jazz of this new life.

She found herself missing home more and more.

Missing Charlie and Renee, her parents, who were on opposite sides of the country now. Missing her beastly old truck (which had been given a proper junkyard burial) while simultaneously hating the new SUV that Edward had insisted on purchasing for her. Missing quiet days spent inside cuddled on the couch in place of the socializing and schmoozing that was now expected of her. Add to that the long hours he once again had to put in, and they were back to the hellish years she had thought were long behind them.

Try as she might, she was never _happy_here. Even a beautiful daughter couldn't fix the chasm that had been created. There was always something more important than his small family. A patient who needed tending or files that had to be completed. Rounds of golf with the other doctors. Fancy holiday parties hosted at his parents palatial estate. At her wits end, she'd done the last thing she had ever wanted, but what felt as if it was the only thing she could.

Divorce.

Now another statistic, she had joined the ranks of her parents. Alone and bitter, she spent her days keeping up a home that was too large for just the two souls who lived there. She needed to find something to do with her life, some goal that could be achieved.

With a sigh, she turned to the window. Placing her palm on the chilly pane, she watched as the heat seeped out of her to fog the glass—leaching her warmth until she was left just as cold. The snow heaped the lawn in huge drifts, sparkling white and blinding. Here, in the afterglow of a once happy life, she waited for his car. For the only happiness she still had left. For her daughter's return.

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**Prompt: Bathtub **

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Bella sat in her daughter's bathroom, knees resting against the plush pink mat near the tub. Renesmee splashed happily in thebathtub, drawing pictures of trees and houses on the tiled wall with her bath crayons.

"Whatcha drawing there, sweetie?"

"Our house," the little girl giggled, rolling her eyes at her mother's question in a move so like her father.

Bella sat back on her heels, a little puff of pent up air escaping her mouth in a strangled sound. Anytime Renesmee did something that was eerily reminiscent of her father, Bella felt the pain of failure. Fresh and uncomfortable, it felt like knives being shoved under her fingernails.

Listening with half a mind, Bella laughed at the appropriate spots as Renessmee told her how show and tell had gone that day. Tales of recess games and boys making fun of Barbie dolls while they played with their GI Joe's (and wasn't that the same thing) filled the room. But Bella couldn't really concentrate.

She continued to sit with her daughter, needing to be near her. The weekends her daughter was at her father's were the hardest on Bella, and she was unashamedly clingy once the little girl was back. It was an understatement to say she moped around the house every other weekend, and on Wednesday nights. She'd not gotten used to being alone, though.

As her pity party continued to dance a reel in her head, Bella let her thoughts wander to her almost-ex-husband. He'd looked beaten down when he had dropped off their daughter the other night, something that bothered Bella immensely. His eyes had looked so tired, the grim set of his mouth an instant tell to his thoughts. She'd always been able to read Edward, and what she saw made her heart twist.

"You look like Daddy," her daughter's soft, sad voice broke into her thoughts.

"I do?" the observation caught her off guard. "How so?"

"He's always sad. I don't like it. You are too. sometimes."

"We're not sad, sweetie," Bella rushed to cover up her expression with a wan smile. "It's just mommy and daddy stuff, we'll be okay soon."

Renesmee lifted one bubble covered shoulder and shrugged once before turning back to her picture. As Bella watched, the picture grew to include a pond that was in front of the house, and stick figures of a small family. It broke her heart to see her daughter's obvious yearning for a normal life. One that was gone by Bella's own hand.

Hating that she was unable to hide her unhappiness from her daughter, Bella wet a washcloth and began to smooth it over her daughter's shoulders.

She wished it had turned out differently. That instead of moving to this place, where Bella felt so alone, that they had stayed near Seattle. Edward had been so excited about the job offer though, and being near his family once again that there was no second thought put into how the move would affect Bella.

Not wanting to be selfish and genuinely happy for him, she'd packed her life into the back of a U-Haul truck and had set out on a cross country road trip filled with giant balls of string and lots of laughter. She missed those days the most.

Renesmee rubbed her ear, pushing some of the bubbles out and announced she was ready to get out of the tub.

"Look mommy," she sang, holding up her hands. "I'm a prune."

Bella laughed, her first of the evening, as she began to gather water into a cup to wash the bubbles from her daughter's head. As she watched her daughter rinse her hair free of shampoo she grabbed the washcloth with her other hand and began to scrub the tile clean of what could never be.

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**Prompt: Pride **

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Edward straightened his desk for the tenth time in as many minutes. Shuffling loose papers back into their proper files, brushing dust off of untouched sections, tossing pens and prescription pads into his desk drawer. EH glanced at the clock, and registering the time started for the reception area.

As he closed the door behind him and glanced down to kick the cuff of his slacks away from the back of his shoe, a sudden force stumbled into him. A loud _oof_ left his lungs and he unthinkingly put his hands out to catch the brick wall that had run into him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," a voice that was instantly recognizable muttered. His hands flexed against soft, womanly hips and for just a second acted of their own volition and pulled Bella closer.

"It's fine," he whispered, glancing down into the harried eyes of his wi—Ex wife and taking a step back.

"She's sick," Bella whispered, nodding at the sleeping bundle in her arms. She staggered a bit, ever-unsteady on her feet and probably more so with the added weight of an eight year old in her arms. "She had a cough yesterday, but when she woke up this morning she had a really high temperature and she said her stomach hurt. She can't keep anything down…"

"Here, let me take her. She's getting so big…"

Bella smiled slightly at him before passing their daughter off to his larger, more steady and sure arms. She followed him into the exam room and shut the door quietly behind her as he laid Renesmee on the exam bench.

Watching with pride, she observed his instant slip into 'doctor-mode' as he looked over their sick daughter for a way to make her feel better. Edward was a great doctor, she couldn't fault him that, and she had always gotten a funny fluttering in her stomach when he assumed his role of healer and care giver. He'd worked hard during school, and was immensely good at his job.

As Edward checked Renesmee's ears and blood pressure, he stole glances at Bella, noting how distraught and anxious she was. Her fingers twisted around themselves worriedly, foot tapping in a rapid beat.

"She'll be okay, ba—Bella," he assured her, hurriedly correcting his almost slip. He couldn't help it though, as he couldn't help his hands earlier finding purchase on her hips. He glanced back down and tried to wake his napping daughter. "Ness, honey. Wake up, it's Daddy."

A groan from the corner of the room told him Bella _still_ didn't like their daughter's nickname.

"Daddy," the little girl croaked, "I hurt."

"Where do you hurt? Daddy will fix it."

"My throat and my belly. And my head, too."

Stifling a laugh, her pitiful little voice at once alarming and absolutely endearing, he got her to open her mouth and checked her tonsils and tongue. "What part of your head?"

Gesturing to her temple and down around her ears, Renesmee lay back before falling promptly asleep again. Edward removed his lab jacket and laid it over her before turning back to Bella.

"Ear infection," he gave his prognosis before heading to sit down at the table in the room. "It's been so windy lately, and she hates to wear a hat."

"Yeah, doesn't want to mess up her hair," Bella laughed tiredly, relieved that it was nothing… worse.

'That's probably Alice's doing," Edward groaned, running a hand over his face tiredly and then through his hair. "She's turning her into a little diva."

"She's a little girl," Bella returned. "They like pretty things."

"You were never like that."

Edward watched as Bella's face flushed pink, a trait he'd found charming and sweet from the very first day in the library. His hand twitched, wanting to curve around her cheek and touch the warmth, but he tamped it back by sitting on his fingers. He wasn't allowed to do that anymore.

"I was sometimes," she finally said, glancing up to meet his gaze before shifting her eyes to their sleeping daughter. "Anyway. What do we need to do, Doc?"

"I'll write you a script, and give you some instructions. If it gets worse though, I want you to call me."

Bella waited while he filled out the little notepad in his neat scrawl, silently betting that the pharmacy around here liked _this_ doctor's handwriting. When he handed her the paper, she tried in vain to ignore the thrill that shot up her arm when their fingers met.

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**I never did come back to this. Heartache isn't really my favorite thing to write about. And there are people put there that can do it a hell of a lot better than I can, so... **

**Thanks for reading though. **


	2. Carnival Psychic

**Prompt: Imagined Images-** **_You are visiting a carnival with friends and decide to have your fortune told. As you walk in, the gypsy stops, stares at you and says, "I've been waiting." What happens next?

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Delighted squeals and loud music surrounded me, the small 'Fall Celebration' town carnival in full swing. Jessica pulled me by the hand behind her, protesting. I didn't want to have my palm read by some dippy fortune teller, but she thought it would be 'fun'. Heaving a sigh, I removed my hand from the fence I was clinging obstinately to and allowed her to pull me into the red and orange tent.

I was unsurprised at the interior. Loud, garish scarves in every color imaginable draped the walls of the tent, fluttery, incandescent and completely laughable in their stereotyping. A large crystal ball sat atop a rickety table, also covered in a multitude of shimmery fabric. The small, cramped space was warm and I immediately began pulling my heavy sweater away from my body in an attempt to cool my internal thermometer down.

Smoke wafted from a burning incense stick. Pungent and thick, I tasted it on the back of my tongue and my eyes watered.

A sprightly woman sat in the midst of it all, peeks of wispy black hair escaping yet another scarf that surrounded her head. Her dainty fingers were cluttered with bright baubles, dwarfing her pale fingers. Bright, jewel like eyes watched us owl-like, pausing for an uncomfortable length of time on me.

"You," the fortune teller spoke, pointing one bejeweled finger in my direction, "I've been waiting for your arrival. Come closer and let me see your hand."

Swallowing my snide retort down, I moved to the small table and held out my hand. I'd seen one too many of those silly movies. The ones where the fortune teller knew as much as old Professor Marvel in the Wizard of Oz, but people still placed a great deal of hope into their insights. She gripped my plam between her small, chilled hands for a moment, peering down at it as if lost in thought.

_Sheesh lady, your hands are freaking cold._

Despite the too-warm, cloying air of the tent, she felt as if she had submerged her fingers into an ice bucket, and her wintry temperature gave me the chills. I tugged my hand back at the shock, thrusting it into my jeans pocket for warmth.

"Sorry," she murmured blankly, "bad circulation."

"Uh, yeah. Guess so."

She pulled a stack of large cards from… well, I don't actually know _where _from. I figured it was one of those weird, gypsy lady tricks. Like, when they pick your pocket and go through your wallet while your eyes are closed, and they are supposed to be 'consulting their crystal' or whatever. I supposed she could have had the cards stashed somewhere odd, in order to add to the mystery.

I shot a look at Jessica, silently cursing the lack of friends to be made in this stupid town. The few friends I had back in Phoenix, my home town, would not have dragged me to this ridiculous place. But, _oh no_, Forks had about as much to offer in female companionship as McDonalds had to offer in healthy cuisine.

The gypsy woman began flipping the colorful cards over in a rapid succession, muttering to herself all the while. Somewhat drawn in by her odd behavior, I settled down onto the thick, brightly colored pillows that surrounded the table, leaning over to get a closer look.

"This is the Queen of Pentacles," she began deciphering her strange cards for me, "representing intelligence and thoughtfulness. The Three of Cups here," she passed her fingers over a card, grazing the smooth surface just barely, "indicates that you are fortunate in love," I snorted, "and are set to have a happy ending, rife with the discovery of new talents. The next is the Hermit, most often applied to loners with wisdom and inner strength. The King of Wands follows, telling us that the Hermit is an honorable gentleman, passionate and kind."

My mind flooded with images of its own making. Romeo and Mr. Darcy, my favorite literary crushes melding together to create something I had never experienced.

"Then, we have the Lovers card," she smiled a secretive smile. "It seems as though a new romance is on its way to you. This is good."

Rolling my eyes, I nodded for her to continue, though I took her silly reading with only a grain of salt. _Love…yeah right_. The available guys around here made the friendship thing look like a king's sum in comparison.

"The Death card is next, but you should not be alarmed, as it a misconstrued card. It could symbolize a new beginning, a change, not just…death. The Judgment card here," she tapped a card, "backs this up. It symbolizes renewal into both a better, healthy life and mind."

_Death, lady? Way to freak me out. Nice job, weirdo._

"The Six of Swords indicates that a journey away from sorrow is coming your way, as well as for the Hermit. He's waited for you, I think," she cast her intense eyes in my direction, freezing me in place. "And, finally," she looked down, smiling serenely, "the Sun. Joy and happiness are on their way to you Isabella. Your marriage will be content, fulfilling and packed with lots of love and success."

Shocked at her use of my name I looked up to her, alarmed. Then, I began to pat my pockets, sure she had gotten a hold of my wallet. Not that there was much in there, but still…

It was there, still in my back pocket.

She tapped her forehead before winking at me. "I know all," she laughed, a high, happy sound. "Go, your destiny awaits."

Scrambling to my feet, I shot her one last stymied glance before whirling and catching Jessica's hand and pulling her out of there.

"Did you set that up?" I hissed. "Somehow tell her my name before we went in there or when I wasn't paying attention?"

"No, Bella. I swear it, I didn't tell her anything. How do you think she knew your…" Words trailing off just as she stopped in her tracks, her jaw dropped. "Holy, crap. Bella. Look at him," she whispered.

I followed her gaze back to the tent, where an absolutely beautiful boy had just appeared. Lanky and tall, hair a mess on top of his head, he stared back at us in amusement, as if he had heard Jessica's awestruck whispers. He looked to be about our age, although somehow…older. Wiser.

Lonely.

Strong jawed and graceful in the way he carried himself, he was unlike anyone I had ever seen. My heart sped as I took him in, intrigued.

His gaze flickered to me, a confused expression taking the place of his earlier amusement. Eyes flickering in the dim light—the same odd hue as the gypsy—raked over me before a tentative, heart stopping and utterly adorable half grin charmed his features and he disappeared into the tent.

_Huh. Hope Psychic lady was right…_


	3. Roots

**Oh, a disclaimer might be nice. I'm not Stephenie Meyer, and these characters belong to her. I'm just playing around. **

**Prompt: Roots**

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The windshield wipers beat in time to the soulful sounds pouring out of my radio, some playlist of Edward's that I had left on this morning as I drove to work. My truck was currently in the shop and my sweet fiancée had lent me his car to get around in. It felt odd driving his car. My truck sat so high off the ground, while the Volvo did not. I felt funny driving it, as if I was sitting on the highway instead of actually driving on it.

Rain poured down steadily, as per usual. On days like these, when the rain had been a constant force for days on end, I missed the dry, parched climate of Phoenix. I missed the tiny garden of dead flowers that my mother always forgot to water, roots exposed in the dry, cracked ground. Above all, on days like these, I wished for the warm air that blew through my windows as I sat reading in my room.

If I left my windows open here, I froze half to death.

The song changed, something hard and loud, and decidedly not what I wanted to listen to while I reminisced. With a groan, I reached for the iPod intending to find a better playlist. I silenced it by pressing pause before scrolling through the little device searching for something more suitable.

Engrossed in my task, I didn't notice that my hand still holding the steering wheel had moved along with my body. A sudden shift of the wheels, a minute inch off of my intended path, and the car began to slide.

My heart froze in my chest, stomach dropping to my feet in panic. In a daze, I glanced up, seeing trees too close to the passenger side window. For a split second, my mind reeled, flashes of dead flowers and my mother's laughing face dancing into my vision. In my dazed state, I forgot the rules for turning a car out of a skid, and yanked the wheel harshly to correct.

"Shit," I screeched, pulling my wits about me too late. My hands left the wheel, moving up to protect my face as the wheel of the car left the shoulder and spun with a squelching, wet sound into mud and rocks. The car spun once, the sounds of mud splatting against the windows loud and ominous in the silence of the vehicle's interior.

A jolt, a loud crunch, and one instance of my body hurtling forward against my seatbelt later and the car stopped. I lay slumped over the steering wheel, my chest and shoulder screaming at me. But I was too scared to move. My heart had restarted and now beat rapidly in my chest, making me feel hot and cold all at once. My breaths came out in great, heaving gasps, harsh and rapidly becoming hysterical. I felt wetness on my cheek, and my head swum as I pulled the scent into my lungs.

Terrified and thankful that I could still move, I awkwardly maneuvered my good arm to the seatbelt's clasp, releasing it with a soft click. I needed fresh air, or I would pass out. I sat back, wincing as my shoulder moved. It hurt. A lot. My eyes wheeled blindly around the interior of the car, settling on the iPod now in pieces on the dashboard.

_Dude, Edward is gonna kill me._

With that thought, I clamored for the door handle, hands fumbling and wild until they met their intended target. The rain beat down on me as I crawled out of the car and collapsed face down next to it on the sodden, squishy ground. I pulled great lungfuls of wet and pine scented air into my lungs, spluttering when I got a mouthful of grass. I looked over to the Volvo, noticing the steam that escaped the hood. It was bent at an unnatural angle, crooked and hanging over the driver side in a way that did not look encouraging.

Not only did I kill his iPod, I murdered his car.

_I'm thirsty._

My head spun in odd directions, one minute worrying about the damage to the vehicle, the next wondering if Charlie would be upset that I couldn't cook dinner tonight. Charlie…

A bit more alert, I crawled back to my knees and toward the car that wasn't so shiny anymore. My shoulder protested the movement, sore and aching. Leaning in the open door, I grabbed my purse from the back floorboard and sat back on my butt. _Might as well, I'm already a mess as is. What's a little mud gonna hurt?_

With shaking fingers I dialed nine-one-one, holding the phone up to my ear and listening as it beeped.

"Nine-one-one, what's your emergency?"

"I…" I shook my head, glancing back at the car.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

"I'm sorry," I apologized stupidly. "I've been in an accident. My boyfriend's car is against a tree and my shoulder hurts."

"Do you know where you are?" his voice was hurried and anxious now, upping my terror that much more. "You said your boyfriend's car was against a tree? Is he with you?"

"No, I borrowed his car. My truck wouldn't start yesterday, and my Dad took it to a friend…" I trailed off, realizing in a dim part of my mind that he didn't really need to know this. "I lost control of the vehicle. It's raining."

"Okay, calm down dear. I'll have someone to you just as soon as you tell me where you are."

I looked around, recognizing nothing in my state. I'd been on my way home, hadn't I? With a shake of my head, which only made my shoulder hurt worse, I refocused on the scene around me.

"I'm in between Port Angeles and Forks, but I'm closer to Forks than the other," I said lamely. "I passed a gas station a ways back, maybe five minutes before I wre- wrecked," I moaned.

He went over the route with me, easily pinpointing where I was. He promised to have someone to me right away, before asking about my injuries.

"My shoulder really hurts," I told him. "The seatbelt pulled me back kind of hard, and it hurts to move it much. Hey, could you get a hold of my dad? He's a cop, too."

"Your father is an officer?"

"Yes, he's the chief of police for Forks. Charlie Swan, do you know him?" I was babbling now, too stressed to think rationally.

"I'll have him contacted."

Listening as he spoke over his dispatch, I heard as he tried to get a hold of my dad. Sirens grew louder in the background, and I snapped my phone shut, knowing that help was coming. I hoped the nice dispatcher wouldn't worry…

An ambulance pulled up followed by a cruiser, and I breathed a small sigh of relief. I raised a shaky hand to my face, wanting to brush the mud and grass off of it to look more presentable. I was sure my hair was a mess. Wet and tangled… I probably looked like a drowned rat. When I pulled my hand away, I noticed the blood that I'd briefly smelled earlier. I felt around my cheeks, encountering a gash underneath my eye.

_Great._

Shoving my hand behind my back, so as to not have to look at the blood, I instead glanced back to the road where the rescue personnel had stopped and were now making their way toward me. They gingerly helped me to my feet and led me to the back of the ambulance.

As they looked over me, I drifted. My mind had checked out, too stressed from the day's events to offer much more than non committal yes and no answers to the paramedics who worked on me. I imagined the look on Edward's face when he saw his car. He'd be so upset; he loved his car. And his iPod.

I'd have to buy him a new one.

"Bella."

Charlie's voice floated through the air, worried and shrill. His face appeared in the open door of the ambulance. Deep lines of worry creased his brows and his lips were set into a tight line.

"I'm okay" I mumbled. "I just hurt my shoulder. And Edward's car."

Unsatisfied with my answer, he looked to the paramedic for a second opinion.

"Her shoulder seems to be fine, but we'll need an x-ray to assure that it isn't broken," the guy calmly explained. "The blood is from a cut under her eye that will need stitches. She probably hit her head on the steering wheel, which could explain the grogginess she's exhibiting. She hasn't really been all there," he told Charlie, who sighed in relief.

"But she's okay?" he asked again.

"Yes, much luckier than we've seen, as I'm sure you know. The seatbelt might have pulled her back roughly, but it kept her alive."

Charlie grunted in agreement before climbing into the ambulance to sit next to me. He took my good hand and gripped it tightly, murmuring under his breath. "Don't know what I would have…"

"Dad, I'm _fine_," I stressed, shutting my eyes against the bright light. It was so warm here, away from the rain and the cold air. "We'll have to get pizza for dinner," I mumbled blearily before I drifted off to sleep.


	4. Cowboy & The cat is out of the bag

**Prompt: Cowboy **** & The cat is out of the bag**

* * *

Weaving my way unsteadily, I pushed through the mass of my inebriated classmates bodies looking for my friends. Rose had more than likely made a beeline for Emmett and Alice had disappeared onto the dance floor almost as soon as we had arrived, shouting over her shoulder that she'd spotted Jasper there. She'd had a massive crush on him since last year, but was oddly shy about it.

An over-excited reveler bumped into me, throwing my already precarious center of gravity further out of whack. As graceful as a bull in a china shop I pitched forward and headbutted the back of the person in front of me.

"Whoa. Easy there, Swan."

I knew that voice—I dreaded that voice.

Edward Cullen, in all of his infuriating glory, whipped around, a smug smirk plastered on his overly full lips. I hated that I noticed such things on a daily basis. His lips, his forearms, his hair, his blindingly white smile…

I thought they looked like chiclets.

"Cullen," I sneered. Trying to maneuver my way around him, I stepped to the left only to be blocked by him. A more forceful step to the right and there he was, again. "I'm not trying to dance, Edward. Let me by."

"C'mon Swan, loosen up. It's a party."

Since the day he and his family had moved here from somewhere in Alaska, Edward Cullen had worked my last nerve. He'd fit in right away, a magnet for the 'better-than-thou' ilk of Jessica, Lauren and _that _group. Handsome, smart, spoiled... Any description you could think of that made one feel unworthy could be applied to him.

He'd barged in like a cowboy from a bad western, seated firmly atop his steed. His shiny, silver steed. The girls in school creamed their panties over his Volvo, but I honestly didn't get it. I thought it looked like a grocery-getter.

"I am loose," I returned. "I'm just not in the mood for this tonight. Excuse me."

With that, I finally edged around him and took off blindly for anywhere that was _away_ from him. A shock of blonde hair caught my eye and I breathed a sigh of relief as I finally found one or my wayward friends.

"Rose," I called over the dim roar of heavy bass and unintelligible lyrics.

She turned at her name, a giddy smile plastered on her face. Emmett looked over her shoulder, grinning at me impishly.

"Bella, where's my beer?"

"Sorry, I seem to have forgotten it. I'm sure you'll have no problem finding one though. Just look for the congregation in the kitchen. Can't miss it and the tools gathered to worship."

Chuckling once, he flexed the fingers settled low on Rose's hips and moved her from her the spot she perched at between his thighs. Sliding off the stool he'd called dibs on earlier he asked, "You guys want?"

We nodded our assent and he walked away, bobbing his head to the rap song pouring from the speakers. I grabbed his spot and swung my legs to Rose's side. "See Alice anywhere?" I asked, craning my head to look for her inky black hair.

"Last I saw, she'd snagged her dream guy," Rose laughed, nodding her head toward the corner. "They took off that way."

"Yeah? Huh. Wonder if the cat's out of the bag?"

"Don't know. She had a big smile on her face, but she could have just inhaled too much of Lauren's craptastic perfume and caught a buzz."

If it were possible, Rose hated Lauren more than I did. No nonsense in her attitude, Rose hadn't put up with Lauren's assumption of 'Queen Bee of Forks', and had pissed her off that much more when she started dating Emmett the past school year. Lauren's crush on him was hard and absolute; in her eye the head cheerleader should stand next to the football star.

Unlucky for her that Emmett had a thing for smart mouthed girls in the mold of Rosalie Hale.

Eventually said jock returned with three red plastic cups and distributed them around before elbowing me out of his seat and pulling Rose back to her previous spot. I listened to his jokes for a while, laughing at his silly ass when he launched into a tale of Eric Yorkie, band nerd extraordinaire, and a drunken Jessica making out under the stairs.

Some girls couldn't handle their liquor.

Once he and Rose began to get a little too close, I began to scour the room for a distraction. I was met with a bright green stare fixed on mine and tried to ignore the funny flip flop in my belly.


	5. Lust

**Lust **

* * *

I watched as she crossed the room, her bright red apron floating airily against soft, perfect hips. Hair tumbling behind her in a riotous wave of curls and full, pink lips smirking at her next unknowing target, she crossed the room.

Lust was a fickle thing. It didn't matter the time of day, the setting or the target. When it hit, it was instant, sometimes alarming, but never dull. My eyesight glazed over as I thought of how she would look in just the apron and nothing else...

My eyes continued to flicker across the crowded restaurant, always searching for the pretty waitress and never disappointed when it settled on her.

She was laughing now, head tipped back and pale, dainty throat exposed as one of the overgrown men at the table she was serving said something he undoubtedly thought witty. She ate it up, fluttering her hand against his arm to counter back with some tidbit of her own.

With fascination, I watched the cat and mouse exchange. She gave them what they wanted, offering a coy smile or a flirty wink when they tried to get her attention from across the room. She'd be tipped well tonight. And if the large one had anything to say about it, she'd be leaving with a phone number in hand as well.

"Would you like another?"

My waitress had appeared, popping gum like a cow with its curd. My eyes slid sideways to her, taking in the too-large brown curls and white eye shadow. She had to have been at least twenty-five, but everything about the girl screamed seventeen.

"No thanks," I paused to look at her name tag, and she tittered. Obviously, wrongly, thinking I was checking out her rack. "Jessica." I finished.

"Ohhh-kay," she shrugged, giving me a weird glance before placing my check face down on the table beside my untouched beer.

For a few more minutes I sat, impatiently watching the table of men as they called to the pretty girl again. They held up empty pitchers, loudly proclaiming they needed more. I growled under my breath at their antics. They were terribly rude.

Finally, at a quarter to ten, a body slid into the booth beside me with a weary sigh.

"My feet hurt so bad," she complained. "Those Neanderthals were ridiculous with the amount of beer they imbibed. I musta ran back and forth ten times for them."

"Good tippers?"

She snorted, an indelicate little sound. "Yeah, right. Hoss thought his phone number was worth gold evidently. Besides that, I got a measly ten bucks from them for my efforts. This job isn't worth the hassle."

"So quit," I shrugged, inwardly hoping for just such a thing. She wouldn't though. Bella was too independent for her own good.

"Edward," she groaned. "I have to pay my rent. This job helps with that."

I'd offered a thousand times to let her move in with me, but it was a no-go. She was determined to make it through school on her own, accepting little to no help from her father or mother. It was all psrt of her charm though.

Chuckling, I slung my arm around her shoulder, pulling her small body to mine and dropping a kiss into her hairline. "Let's get out of here, I've been waiting for you all night. Bring the apron, I have plans for it."


	6. Counting Sheep

_Note: not really new (this has been posted before), I'm just consolidating some of the extra things on my profile into one spot****__—_I just really dislike clutter. The title of the story ID was changed to reflect this, as well. 

**_This was a part of the birthday posting that was made for Ninapolitan. If you want to read more, please go to:_****_http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/u/2106619/HappyBirthdayNina_**

**_Prompts used:_****_insomnia, swimming pool, glistens. _**

* * *

Tossing and turning, I threw the covers back angrily. Sleep was eluding me. Summer was in full swing; the night was warm and sticky, the still evening air stifling. I glanced at the clock, noting that it was now past two a.m. My mind was whirring and alert, so I gave up on falling asleep and began to pace my room instead. My hands moved restlessly through my messy hair as my quiet passes took me past the window once, twice, three times before a flash of silver caught my eye.

Pausing at the window, my eyes were instantly drawn to the swimming pool next door and its lone occupant. Long, dark hair floated on the surface of the water, the relaxed figure of a girl floating ethereally in the middle of the oval shaped pool. Her hands moved languorously through the water back and forth, keeping her small body afloat. I was mesmerized by the way she seemed so graceful and mysterious in the warm summer night, and I watched her like some sort of creeper. Hidden behind the long gold drapes I stood sentient, taking in the scene before me.

My family and I were new to this small town, surrounded by forest and ferns. As school had not yet started, we were still relatively unknown to the inhabitants. My younger sister had been exuberant and positively giddy that we'd moved next to a girl her own age, and had yammered on about her for the past three days. I'd been immersed in setting up my room and helping with the unpacking, and I'd yet to meet this girl who was now our neighbor and my sister's new-found best friend.

Was this the girl my sister was so excited to have met? If so, I hoped she'd introduce me to her…

As I watched her, my eyes riveted on the dark colored bikini and the way it stood out in sharp contrast to her pale skin in the light of the moon, her hand rose from the water. Drifting slowly up her stomach, her fingers continued a lazy, twisting rhythm up to her small bikini top. Unconsciously, my hand mimicked hers… although in the reverse direction. As her fingers drifted underneath the small fabric triangle, mine slipped into my sleep pants. Her drowsy, languid strokes across her breasts were mirrored by my fingers across the head of my cock.

My breathing started to increase, pants and low groans departing from my lungs in hard wisps. My heart was drumming in an irregular rhythm as I continued to watch her and stroke myself. Her head tipped back, her mouth opening into an 'O' shape. Of its own volition, the hand that I had been using to brace myself against the wall moved to pull the curtain back. Lost to the dual senses of sight and touch, I took a firm grip on myself, and began stroking in earnest now.

Below me, the moonlit vision began to move. Entranced, I watched as she slowly let her feet drift to the floor beneath her, her earlier movements throwing her off balance and causing her to stand. She moved to the wall of the pool closest to me as my hand was working my body into a near frenzy. Droplets of water clung to her shoulders and small arms, sparkling in the dim light of the night like tiny diamonds.

Leaning against the side of the pool, she tipped her head back. Dark eyes met mine, causing my hand to still in shock.

I'd been caught.

The bewitching vixen, exuding an inner- calm that belied her small frame, seemed unaffected. Keeping her gaze locked on mine, she moved her hand, the one that had been slowly swirling through the water, underneath the surface. My breath caught as I realized what she was doing, and my hand once again began to move. Keeping my eyes on hers, I yanked my pajama pants down with one hand and increased my pace with the other.

Her other hand came up, fingers trailing over her collar bone; I wanted to be the one doing that. I leaned my forehead on my upraised arm, still keeping eye contact with her as she pushed her bikini top down and palmed a small, perky breast. I stroked myself faster, fingers gripped around my cock and moving in a steady, quick rhythm.

Unable to tear my eyes away from her, my head slumped forward, watching her as she watched me. Her eyes watched the movements of my arm, though the windowsill was too high for her to see anything lower. Her teeth, glinting ultra-white in the pale moonlight, captured her bottom lip between them when she broke our gaze, her head dipping back and her long, wet hair trailing over the side of the pool.

Through my open window, I could hear her long, drawn out, breathy moan. Three senses now consumed, sound being added to the ever-growing list, my cock twitched in my hand before my body stilled. A deep, rumbling groan left me as I came, hard. I fumbled; trying to keep the mess contained but lost that battle quickly.

_I wonder how she smells… how she tastes._

My wits came to me slowly, and I glanced back up and out the window. She was moving away from her spot against the pool wall now. She waded backwards toward the small deck, keeping her wanton gaze trained on me. She grinned impishly before turning around and ascending the ladder. Inch by inch, her wet, nearly naked form was revealed to me.

_Fuck…_

I watched her make her way across the lawn toward her small back porch. Just before she headed inside, she turned back and looked up at my window once more.

"Sweet dreams," she called out. Her voice, soft and teasing, carried on the night air before she disappeared.

Finding a new pair of pajamas, I began to hastily clean up my…_mess_ before flopping back onto my bed, spent but thoroughly intrigued. My now-heavy eyelids drooped, and I burrowed under my covers, drifting to sleep with one last thought.

_Lullabies are for sissies…_


	7. The Cullen Family

**Another that has been posted before. Halloween contest entry that I wrote with kikikinz. Enjoy, it's way silly :) **

* * *

_They're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, they're altogether ooky... The Cullen Family_

_The house is a museum, when people come to see' 'em, they really are a scre-am...The Cullen Family_

_So get a witch's shawl on, a broomstick you can crawl on, we're going to pay a call on... The Cullen Family_

* * *

The night was dark and damp, the overgrown path illuminated only by the flashes of lightning which followed the booming claps of thunder from the brewing storm. Somewhere deep in the forest a wolf howled. Its sound was ominous to the nervous townsfolk gathered in tight bunches around the door, the thick, dense fog clinging wetly to their heels. They stood on the vine covered porch, which was rotting through in some places, silently daring each other to knock on the door through pointed glances and gestures. Organ music wafted from a broken upstairs window, its tune eerie and haunting.

The house, a dilapidated old Victorian - creepy, spooky and altogether ooky- loomed like a dark force pressing down around them, causing an icy chill to run down their spines. Shadows were deep and dark and one young girl stared fixedly at one that seemed to be moving. She screamed suddenly, startling the others when the shadow moved toward her swiftly. The scream quickly turned to a sigh of relief when the dim light of the porch revealed the shadow was a black cat.

"Relax, Jess," her boyfriend Mike told her. Slipping a quivering arm around her that belied his confidence, he continued to try and dispel her fears. "It's only a pussy cat..." A juvenile snicker behind him was acknowledgement that someone had caught his joke and a mischievous grin stretched across his face.

She smacked his hand from her waist, pausing to adjust the cottony white tail of her Playboy bunny costume. Satisfied that she looked perfect, she turned her face back to him, frowning.

The other kids, all of them in their teens, jostled each other in an attempt to get someone to 'man up' and knock on the door. "C'mon man, do it," Tyler urged Eric, pushing him closer to the door. "Knock already."

The young blond - Lauren - seconded her boyfriend's dare. "Yeah, somebody knock, " she said, shivering in her inappropriately cut witch's costume. "I'm freezing my ass off out here."

Eric, a nervous, awkward boy, shook his head vehemently, refusing to go any further. "Hell no," he stuttered, "I'm not going anywhere near that door. You do it," he told Mike, backing away and almost knocking over the cluster of girls.

"Yeah, show us what a man you are, Mikey," Tyler snickered as he himself moved a step backward, too.

Mike glanced at the door, suddenly letting out a nervous laugh. "Too bad the knocker looks like a gargoyle and not an actual pair of knockers..."

"Oh, for Pete's sake," Angela muttered, gripping Ben's hand tightly. "Will one of you just knock and stop being jackasses!"

Taking a deep breath, Ben garnered up his courage and strode briskly to the door, raising the over-sized metal knocker in his hand. Three echoing raps later, the door swung open, creaking ominously on unoiled hinges to reveal a towering figure shadowed in the even dimmer light of the open doorway. A sudden clap of thunder shook the porch and its inhabitants and they all gasped when the following lightning strike revealed the stiff form of Carlisle Cullen.

His eyes, set deep into the purple, bruise-like shadows underneath them took in their shaking, scared forms. "Welcome to the Cullen House," he intoned blandly. "May I take your coats?" He ushered them inside with a sweeping gesture, standing aside to allow entry.

Angela and Ben, being the closest to the door, entered the mysterious house first, followed closely by Mike and Jessica, and finally Lauren and Tyler. Angela, the only girl smart enough to wear a coat, handed hers to Carlisle revealing her 'Jean Grey' costume-a perfect match to Ben's Cyclops.

Eric's eyes darted nervously from side to side as if he were waiting on someone to creep up and snatch him. Tyler kept his gaze straight ahead while Lauren looked curiously around, her narrow-eyed, judgmental gaze taking in her surroundings.

More kids trailed directly behind them, newcomers to the original group. Their eyes took in the lush, blood-red fabrics that dotted the otherwise dank and dark entry way and great room. The furnishings, obviously expensive and grand at one time, were connected with interlacing cobwebs and covered in dust. The wallpaper, outdated and peeling in some places, resembled patterns of lace. At one time, it would have seemed elegant and sumptuous, but in these modern times seemed out of place and made the kids ill at ease. Adding to the creepy feeling were vases upon vases of flowerless stems on every available table in the room.

Lauren turned to Carlisle, who was watching their faces with feigned interest. "Wow, you really went all out on the décor; this place is positively creeptastic," she said, her tone condescending and full of snark.

"We like it," a bell-like voice rang out, drawing all eyes to the center of the room. There standing in the middle of the elegant, massive black wood staircase was a pale, but strikingly beautiful couple dressed head to toe in severe black, standing close together as if extensions of each other. The mirror behind them reflected the night-time scene outside as well as the pale hand of the disturbingly good looking guy gently caressing the cinched in, tiny waist of the mesmerizing woman beside him.

Her hair, so dark it seemed almost black in the low light of the room, was long and hung straight down her back in a thick curtain that brushed the arm of the gentleman clad in an exquisitely tailored pin striped suit beside her. Her long, sequined dress gathered in pools on the stairs behind her, the low neckline showing off her milky white flesh. The tight corset-like bodice of her dress made her already tiny waist seem that much smaller and pushed her chest up and out. This drew the eyes of nearly every male in the group of easily excitable teenagers, and a cross look flashed across the face of the obviously protective man curved around her. He made a sound in his throat, deep and rumbling, causing the boys to look at him in shock.

The young girls in the group looked at the man in awe, drawn to his stunning good looks and fiery, messy hair. He was lean and long, his jaw chiseled and sharp. Almost every one of them looked to the woman beside him with jealous eyes, casting covert glances at their suddenly unimpressive male companions next to them. All but one, that was. Angela smiled softly, in awe of the way the couple stared at each other—the dark beauty looked to him with rapt attention and his features relaxed softly, a tiny, crooked smile gracing his face.

"Cara mia," he whispered, brushing his fingers slowly along her collarbone, "you should introduce yourself... Our guests are wondering who you are."

She flashed an indulgent, knowing smile at him before snuggling deeper into his embrace and turning her body to face the gathered crowd. "Hello, I'm Bella Cullen. This is my Edward. Welcome to our home." She flashed a too-bright smile at them, her teeth white, gleaming and strangely unnerving.

Shocked by this, the kids glanced at each other, wondering at the claim laid to this odd, strange house. Granted, it was falling apart, but surely they were too young to own a house... Hell, they barely looked old enough to drive!

Out of the corner of her eye, Jessica noticed a new person float into the room. A tiny looking figure moved to the settee, taking a seat next to another new face, a young man that Jessica could have sworn wasn't there a moment ago. The pair wrapped their arms around each other, lounging lazily in the corner. The young lady wore a purple corset style dress with a black lace overlay and a black velvet rosette pinned to the neckline. She settled comfortably into her seat, crossing her legs which were covered in a pair of cobweb patterned tights. Her half boots were purple, too, and the brass grommets embedded into the velvet fabric glinted in the flickering light of a nearby candle.

Next to her sat an unassuming but somehow handsome guy with blond hair curling oddly around his face in an unfashionable style. His eyes flickered from person to person, and the uncomfortable look on his face never seemed to dissipate. The girl's features were pretty despite her bored expression. Her eyes seemed unfocused and faraway, as if she would rather be anywhere than this place. The man next to her shifted suddenly, drawing her attention. Her tiny hand shot to his shoulder and she pushed down roughly on it in a movement so quick that Jessica was sure she had blinked.

"Jasper, no," she scolded, shaking her head at him and causing the harshly cut black hair to whip around, obscuring her eyes. "I like it here, please don't."

"Anything for you, my love." He brushed the inky hair out of her eyes and leaning his face to her ear, he began to whisper. She giggled, a light tinkling sound that seemed in direct contrast to the bored expression on her face only moments before. She glanced up at seemingly no discernible sound and watched the room to her left, her disinterested expression returning once more.

"Who's ready to party?" a loud voice boomed. The now weirded-out kids tore their glances from the hodge-podge of already assembled family members to the large man now entering the room. He strode in whistling a jaunty tune, the long black robe he was wearing buttoned tightly up to his neck, carrying on the peculiar theme of non-sensical Halloween costumes. A gorgeous woman followed behind him casting withering glances around the room before her malevolent glare turned back to the giant in front of her. Her hand twitched around the candlestick she carried, and she began to raise it.

"Nuh uh," the jovial giant teased, turning to face her. "You promised..."

Her only response was a deep rolling of her jewel toned eyes, the skin under them a soft lavender color. "Whatever," she muttered, flipping her honey colored locks over her shoulder and striding to the center of the room. She placed the candlestick on the table closest to her, casting her in a soft glow. She stood regally, stunning in a pale pink sheath dress with a wide, white patent leather belt accentuating her small waist. A pillbox hat sat pinned to her hair. Her appearance was neat and crisp, and wholly different from the other family members. Taking in the quiet group amassed in front of her, she looked them up and down disdainfully, finally settling on Lauren. "Great outfit, did you make it yourself?"

Lauren opened her mouth to speak but was drowned out by a loud cackle coming from under the stairs. Everyone swiveled to see yet another pale-faced woman, draped in a dusty, flowing shawl. Her caramel colored hair, in desperate need of a comb, was partially hidden under a wide brimmed hat. She carried an empty punch bowl in one hand, a full jug in the other. The violently red liquid inside sloshed around with every one of her steps toward them. "I forgot to put out the punch," she announced to no one in particular.

She set her supplies on an old, beaten up table. Like everything else in the house, it looked to have been a handsome piece of furniture at one time, but was now battered and scarred from use and old age. She hummed a classic tune form the big-band era to herself as she set the chipped bowl in the middle, placing the matching - and equally chipped mugs - around it. The liquid was poured into the punch bowl, bright ruby red and thick in its viscosity.

"Who wants a drink?" she asked, turning to look over at the townies with a hopeful expression shining on her face. "It's my own special brew."

A silent war broke out amongst the rather large group, and finally Eric was pushed forward, the designated guinea pig. He stumbled over his large feet once before he righted himself. Taking small, cautious steps, he finally reached the table and with shaking hands took the proffered mug.

"Th-thanks," he stuttered before raising it to his lips to take a tentative sip. "It's good..." he announced, seeming surprised.

Taking Eric at his word, the townies began to descend on the refreshments. The girls giggled at the lavish gingerbread house, decorated eerily similar to the house they now stood in. Orange and green popcorn balls were heaped into a large bowl at one end, chocolate cupcakes made up to look like spiders at the other. The boys laughed at the bowl of peeled grapes - Eric stuck them to the ends of his fingers and wiggled them in Jessica's face. She squealed loudly and darted around him to hide behind Mike, complaining about stains on her costume. Lauren looked at the table covered in a fine layer of dust with evident disgust on her face.

The couple on the stairs turned to each other, ignoring the crowd below them. "A raging success," he murmured before moving his lips to hers. She smiled into the kiss, raising her hands to twine them into his already messy hair. His arms formed a cradle as he bent her backward, losing himself in the moment. They carried on that way, seemingly unaware and unaffected by the curious eyes watching them now.

A girlish giggle broke their trance, and they turned happy, unrepentant eyes to the doorway. A pretty young girl, her hair just as fiery as the gentleman standing on the stairs, stood in the doorway. Her companion, his dark hair hanging in long sheets around his face and obscuring his eyes save for a tiny section, laughed as well. He was large, nearly taking up the entire door frame, and his high pitched laugh caused the males gathered around the punchbowl to snicker to themselves. Edward and Bella smiled at them before turning their attention back to each other.

"Do you two _ever _quit," the girl, dressed demurely in nice black slacks and a cream wrap top asked, amused.

"Cousin Renesmee," Alice scolded with a laugh, "let them be, it's their anniversary."

The kids looked up from their cups, confused. "Anniversary?" Jessica questioned. "What, like... they're married?"

Jasper glanced up at Edward and Bella on the stairs, once again wrapped around each other in an embrace that was not polite for company. His eyes suddenly became heavily lidded and swiveled back to Jessica. "Yep," he drawled, slinging his arm around Alice and pulling her close. "They're, like... married." He then dropped his lips to linger on the face of the woman in his arms. Another giggle erupted from her, this time much deeper and heavier than before.

She reached her hand to cup his cheek tenderly. "Not now, Jazzy," she giggled again. "That'll happen... later."

"Ya promise?"

"Oh, there is no need for promises. I _know_," she winked suggestively.

Carlisle cleared his throat from the entry way. "If you'll follow me, we can now head to the ballroom," he said walking forward with a lurching gait. When he got to the woman with the caramel-colored hair, he stopped. "After you, Esme."

"Emmett, Rose," she called behind her, "bring the punch. I have a feeling we're gonna need it."

The blond woman rolled her eyes but crossed the room to the table, picking up an empty mug and looking at it with a twinkle in her eye. The deep chuckle from the large man, now directly across the table, caused her to glance up.

"Wouldn't hurt me," he snickered. "Not one little bit. C'mon, sweet-cheeks, lets go dance." They picked up the refreshments, table and all, and led the way to the ballroom, Rosalie ignoring the dropped jaws of the townies' faces and focusing instead on trying to upend the table onto Emmett.

Alice and Jasper stood and began ushering the bewildered group of teenagers into the hallway. Her voice floated toward them, once again unfocused and droll. "You guys are gonna love this…"

On the stairs, Edward and Bella broke away from each other at last. Noticing the sudden quiet of the room, they glanced around in a daze. "Where did everybody go?" she asked, her hands dropping down from his hair to lace his fingers in hers.

"I wasn't paying attention, Cara mia," he told her, tugging her to him, embracing her again. "I was preoccupied…"

She looked at him with understanding on her face. "As was I, my love. As was I."

Breaking his hold but still keeping their hands clasped, he began to lead her down the stairs. "Come, my darling," he murmured, "let us join our party."

~(o.O)~

They entered the once-grand ballroom, her hand held high in his as if he were showing off a thing of great beauty. And he was.

Smitten from the first moment he saw her, though he did not understand this until later, he coveted and claimed her as his own. She had never given him a moment's pause in her deep, undying devotion, and tonight they celebrated their anniversary.

October 31st, a night to the rest of the world that was synonymous with sweet treats and silly tricks, meant something different to Edward and Bella. It symbolized the time already spent together, and the many, many more days to come. The household was filled with love and laughter, their cherished family always near.

Glancing around the room, he took in the lustful thoughts reflected back at them from both the male and female eyes watching as they made their grand entrance. He longed to shield her from the lustful gazes held far too long by those with no right, but the promise he'd given of happy times and pleasant memories held his tongue. Seeing her face glow with happiness made the restraint worth it.

The family stood by as well, clustered in small groups here and there. Alice and Jasper stood gazing at each other in a dark corner off to the side, displaying body language and feelings that were intimate and powerful. Cousin Renesmee sat upon a deep blue velvet covered chaise, her companion standing close by. Emmett stood, arm slung around Rosalie's waist while she looked longingly at the crackling logs in the fireplace. Edward shook his head minutely, glad that Emmett had finally succeeded in preventing her from trying to throw him into the stone hole.

It didn't mean she wasn't still thinking about it, though…

A movement behind the curtains drew his attention. He chuckled, amusement overcoming him with swift, abrupt force. The long dusty shawl discarded at the floor of the window told the story of what was going on behind the tattered velvet drapes.

"Edward," Bella teased. "Darling, whatever is the matter?"

"My Bella," he crooned, spinning her toward him. "They are enjoying themselves."

Esme and Carlisle were at it, again…

Jasper, looking up from Alice's eyes, laughed lowly. The tiny female beside him cracked a smile, too. Emmett's head snapped up at the sound and he glanced at the window before breaking into a booming laugh. Rosalie even cracked a smile, her normally sour countenance brightening.

The teenagers gathered warily around the punchbowl began tittering before returning to raid the refreshments.

Esme's special brew was a hit.

A sudden organ blast caused the punch-drunk crowd to jump, and they looked at each other in alarm. Alarm raced across the faces of the townies once they realized everyone was accounted for. Chills danced down their spines and they stared at Edward spinning Bella away from him once before pulling her back into his embrace. She laughed delightedly, throwing her head back and exposing her pale, slender neck to him.

He dropped his head down to kiss a slow, thrilling trail from their joined hands to her ear. Pulling her more firmly to him, he whispered, "Cara mia, may I have this dance? Although, I think your father objects."

Carlisle lurched into view, placing an old cylindrical tube into the ancient phonograph. The large, brass horn attached to it was surprisingly shiny, the only thing in this odd house that seemed to be. The sound of crackles filled the room before a haunting old waltz began to drift out into the ballroom.

The couple in the center of the floor moved gracefully, spinning and twirling in time to the music. Neither one paid any attention to where they were or to their captive audience. His face disappeared into the crook of her neck, and the girls sighed enviously as she moaned in delight. After a moment, his head popped up and they shared a secretive grin. Dress trailing behind, always threatening to become tangled and trip her, they spun gracefully around the dance floor. He kept his grip firm on her, just in case.

Old habits die hard, after all.

Entranced, everyone in the room watched them. The girls looked on enviously, some of them poking their dates in the ribs for not paying them near as much attention as Edward seemed to pay his wife. Such devotion, for one so seemingly young… A rarity these days. The guys, whose minds were one-tracked after all, watched Bella and the way the shiny black dress clung to her curves.

Edward shot a warning look toward the faces watching his lovely Bella with their less than proper thoughts evident. The boys' legs carried them a step backward, subconsciously seeking the safety of their group.

Something caused Carlisle's head to snap up and look toward the front room intently. He bent down to Esme, now at his side, and murmured, "The Family is here."

He left the ballroom quietly, disappearing around the corner and out of sight. He made his way to the front door and, swinging it open, took in the cluster of his extended family standing before him. Tanya and Irina were closest, wide grins on their pretty faces, dresses sewn together seamlessly.

"Why Carlisle, it's been eons!" they squealed in unison.

"Ladies, welcome again to our home. We've already begun gathering in the ballroom."

They sauntered off in the direction of the party, hips swaying, always together. He turned back to the other couples gathered on the porch, gesturing them in with a gallant bow.

"Carmen and Eleazar, what a pleasant surprise. We're all so happy you could make it." Carmen leaned up to kiss Carlisle's cheeks while Eleazar clapped his hand to the tall blond man's back in greeting. Behind them stood Kate and Garrett, his arm slung carelessly around her waist while she beamed up at Carlisle.

"Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you again!" She flung herself out of an amused Garrett's arms and into a surprised Carlisle's.

"I'm glad to see you as well," holding on awkwardly for a moment before he released her. "And Garrett. I see the vegetarian lifestyle sits well on you."

"Yeah, no more meat for me," Garrett joked, patting his stomach. Kate smirked up at him, but her eyes reflected pride in his restraint.

"Come join the others in the ballroom. I know Bella has missed you both tremendously and is anxious to see you again." He led them both down the hall to a set of dark double doors. Garrett threw them open, causing the townsfolk to jump slightly, yelps coming out of several of the girls and one very embarrassed Mike.

Tanya and Irina had made their way toward Emmett, who was regaling them with grandiose stories of hunting in the woods of Northern Canada. They sat looking up at him through their horrible glued-on lashes, totally missing the murderous looks bestowed upon them by a very angry Rose.

"Why Emmett, you must be so big and strong to have survived something like that," Irina gushed to him. Tanya nudged her annoyingly, ready to jump in with her own compliment.

"Oh Emmett, your costume makes you the most handsome man in the room," she simpered, tossing her long hair over her shoulder, smacking Irina in the face with strawberry blond curls.

Rose snorted from behind Emmett, rolling her eyes at the girls over his shoulder and leveling a death stare. She was plotting, again.

Ignoring his wife behind him, he leaned down to the girls, a sly smile on his face. "Of course I could never outshine two jewels such as you. You simply light up the room." The girls giggled and batted their eyes in an eerie simultaneous manner.

Rose's eyes shot between the girls and Emmett, blazing with fury. Her lips were set in a tight, determined sneer as she reached for a knife lying near the over-sized cake. She made a move toward Emmett, holding the knife in front of her. He turned to his wife, an amused look on his face.

"Honey pie," he scolded. "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that to do me in!" Her eyes went from him to the girls, now sitting wide-eyed on the couch. "Ah ah ah pumpkin, you promised." She huffed at him and tried to slip the knife in her belt, glaring at Emmett once again when he went over and quickly relieved her of the weapon.

The town kids watched the show, bewildered and more than a little frightened of the gorgeous, statuesque blonde.

Bella and Edward stopped dancing and glanced around at the late arrivals to the party. They smiled warmly at Kate and Garrett who stood talking animatedly to Alice and Jasper before striding over to greet Carmen and Eleazar.

"Eleazar, Carmen, so nice of you to come," Edward said warmly to his old friends.

Bella moved to kiss the couple's cheeks before greeting them warmly. "I've missed you both so. You mustn't stay away so long again."

They continued to chat, moving the couple to a pair of antique wingback chairs grouped around the fireplace. The women took the seats, and began to chat about a recent trip to Italy that Carmen and Eleazar had just returned from. The men stood beside them, catching up.

Tanya and Irina made their way over to the two couples, interrupting their private conversation with tales of how they could have had Edward before Bella came along if they'd wanted. Bella looked over at Edward with amusement lighting up her golden eyes.

"Oh girls, I'm so glad you didn't. Really, how could I compete? You're twice the woman I am!"

They laughed, agreeing. They exchanged pleasantries for a few more minutes, flirting with Edward unashamedly while Bella looked on with a dancing over her face.

Their egos properly restored, they made their way over to Renesmee and her companion.

"Oh Jake," the girls simpered in unison while Jake rolled his eyes over to the lovely woman-child sitting next to him. "I love your costume! It makes you the hottest man in the room."

Jessica leaned over to Lauren, whispering loudly, "This place is an even bigger freakshow than I thought. If the guys weren't so hot, I'd leave."

The offhand comment caused Alice to look up, staring at them blankly. She smirked at the townies suddenly, her eyes alight with glee.

A flash of hurt crossed Mike's face. Turning to his friends he spoke in a louder than normal tone. "Dude, the chicks here aren't too bad on the eyes. I wouldn't mind showing that chick in the black what's what," he laughed, casting a quick glance over at Bella who was still talking to Carmen by the fire.

Edward made a menacing sound low in his throat before lunging toward the obviously stupid Mike. Oblivious to the enraged man coming at him, Mike raised a drink back to his mouth, looking up to see Jasper and Emmett suddenly in front of him.

Somehow aware of what was about to happen, they formed an obstacle between Edward and Mike. Emmett's large, muscled arms formed an iron-like snare around Edward's frame, and he drug him away from the boy with Edward protesting under his breath the entire way. Jasper turned to the startled group, smiling lazily at them before darting after Emmett and Edward.

He reached their side, grasping Edward's elbow loosely. "Relax, man, don't ruin Bella's night."

Edward's eyes instantly rose to meet Bella's amused face, and shaking her head at him, she rose from her seat. Crossing the room swiftly, she reached for his fingers and grasped them tightly in her own tiny hand. Emmett and Jasper, knowing that she would calm him better than even they could, went back to the party.

"I'm sor-" his low apology was cut off when she placed her finger on his lip, shushing him softly.

"My dearest, he's just a boy," she murmured, bringing her lips to his ear, "only a fleeting speck in our existence. Don't you know that nothing, that _no one_ could ever tear me away from you, mon cheri...?" she asked in a soft, low voice; her whispering lips blowing drafts of cool air along the skin of his neck.

"Cara mia..." Overcome with love, he swept her into his arms, passionately laying siege on the responsive skin of her neck. Her hands slid into his hair, the tugs eliciting a growl from him. Pulling his face to hers, she kissed his top lip before moving to pull his bottom lip between her teeth. She bit softly at his flesh before darting her tongue out to soothe the sting of her playful nip. He opened his mouth to hers, their tongues touching, teasing, tasting... Their lips still fused together, she moaned desperately, swooping her hands down to firmly grasp his deliciously rounded ass. He moaned in delight, moving his hands slowly along the sides of her hips, torturing her endlessly.

"Edward! Bella!" Esme scolded good naturedly. "There are children present."

Ignoring her whispered warnings, they continued their passionate kiss, losing themselves to the electrifying sensation running between them. When Edward's hand swooped lovingly over Bella's hip, moving down her outer thigh and around the back, Esme pulled a bell from the deep pocket of her dress and gave it a sharp ring.

Again, a sudden blast of loud, angry organ music startled the gathered group, and Edward broke his lips away from Bella's with a reluctant groan.

~(o.O)~

Upstairs, the still over protective father wiggled his fingers over the ivory keys of an extremely dusty organ. Known for stalking around the attic like a bat, he had a talent for interrupting moments between his daughter and the son-in-law he had gradually come to accept. It didn't mean that the way they got so completely wrapped up in each other still didn't make him uncomfortable.

On one hand, he knew that she was a grown up now and that he shouldn't get so upset. But on the other hand, she would always be his little girl.

He stood from his seat, stretching his creaking muscles with loud snaps and pops, and made his way to the hallway and down the stairs. Fingers trailing along the banister, he paused at the base of the stairs and looked at the family photographs on the wall. There he was with Bella on her wedding day; the black lace veil obscuring her face matched the dyed dress, and her lips were curved into a secretive smile. Although he had thought it an odd choice for a wedding gown, the color more fitting for a funeral than nuptials, she still looked beautiful, her youthful face just as stunning then as it was today.

He grimaced, a slight shudder running through his withered frame. "Damn house, always so drafty..." he muttered.

Reaching the heavy doors of the ballroom, he pulled them open and glanced inside. "What are all these damn kids doing here?"

Alice, who had crossed the room to meet him, took his hand gently in hers and led him to a seat at the table. "Thank you Alice," he smiled, still wrapped around her finger as much as the first day they'd met. He glared over at the townies before rolling his eyes back to Alice.

"Anything for you, Charlie," she smiled at him, running her fingers quickly the remaining wisps of curls, now a silvery white. She straightened his out-of-date suit lapels and nodded to herself. "I still got it," she chuckled.

"I don't know why you even bothered inviting them. They won't be around long enough for you to care what happens to them anyway." He snorted at the little gasps that emanated from the girls, drumming his fingers in an agitated pattern on the table beside him.

His hand dropped to his waist suddenly and he looked up at Bella, shocked and upset. "Where the hell's my gun at?" he cried out.

Bella, sensing her father's confusion, floated over and began to comfort him. His eyes shined at her adoringly as he settled back into the chair quietly. Edward swiftly brought him a drink and once again took Bella's hand in his.

"Ch-Dad," Bella said, "You don't need your gun, remember?"

He rolled his eyes, looking pointedly away from her. "Hmmph."

Meanwhile, Tanya and Irina, sensing a distraction, made their way over to Eric. With every step they took, his face grew more fearful. When they finally stood before him, leaning a little too close for comfort, he took a step backward only to meet the wall behind him. He gulped, and the movement of his Adam's apple drew their hungry eyes to his neck.

"H-h-hello," he stuttered lamely. He backed even further into the wall when each woman shot a hand out to rest on either side of his head, leaving no way out. He tucked his chin down, obscuring their view of his neck. They glanced up at him, a disappointed look on their faces.

"Do you know," Tanya began, using the fingers near his head to tickle behind his ear, "that your costume makes you the most handsome man in the room?"

"N-no, I didn't, he said, voice cracking. "T-thank you?" Their attention caused his nerves to react. Pulling at the neck of his tunic, he tried to surreptitiously fan his suddenly overheated body. "It's Legolas," he told them proudly, gesturing to the plastic bow and arrow set strung behind his back. At their blank look, he continued. "You know, from Lord of the Rings..."

"Oh," they said in unison, suddenly uninterested. "Well, have a nice time," Irina called over her shoulder as they turned away. Bending their heads together and whispering conspiratorially while glancing around the room, their eyes lit with interest once more. They scurried over to the group of boys now talking in the corner. Moving quickly, Mike and Ben suddenly darted over to the girls, leaving Tyler alone and defenseless against Tanya and Irina. They once again cornered their prey, trapping him between them and the roaring fire.

"Did you know," Irina purred at Tyler," your costume easily makes you the best looking man in the room?" He rolled his eyes slightly at the compliment he'd heard several times before.

"Really?" he dropped a bit sarcastically." I didn't think girls liked the white trash trucker look." He gestured to his tight dirty jeans and white wifebeater with a holey flannel over it. A beat up cowboy hat and scuffed work boots completed the look.

"Oh, well... we're not most girls," Tanya purred, running her hand up his chest to rest against his throat. She caressed the warm skin, causing his heart to begin beating erratically. They both leaned closer to him, once again invading someone's space.

"You smell _so_ good..." Irina sighed quietly, Tanya silently agreeing with a quick nod. Their gaze sharpened on the boy, eyes hungry with what he thought was desire. They grinned wickedly at each other, and stepped a bit closer.

Alice called Carlisle's name and he glanced up from Esme's eyes to answer. He followed her blank stare to the corner of the room and huffed loudly. "Oh, not again'" he muttered, leaving his wife's side and crossing the room at a hurried pace. "Ladies," he said, grabbing their elbows and pulling them securely to him. "You look parched. Allow me to get you a drink."

With that he pulled them away from the mildly disappointed boy, scolding the girls with his eyes. Alice sat back in Jasper's arms, satisfied she had stopped yet another potential disaster. Once again, her eyes became vacant and glazed-over for a moment.

Without warning, her bell-like laughter pealed out over the crowd. At Jasper's look, she merely smiled and shook her head at him, indicating he needed to be patient. Her gaze moved to Edward, and a wicked grin spread about his face before he dropping down to whisper into his love's ear.

Emmett crossed the room, shaking his head at the entire situation. He clapped Jasper on the back, leaning down to look stoically at Alice. "You should have let them have their fun," he joked. "This party is dead boring."

Edward's quiet hiss and the fallen look on Bella's face told him that he had misspoken. He adopted a repentant puppy dog pout, mouthing a silent "sorry" to Bella. Gazing at him for a moment, she drew her lip in between her teeth and looked down.

Edward, noticing this, leaned his head down and drew a finger slowly up her arm. Lifting her face to his, he bent low, shielding her face from the view of the assembled revelers.

"Cara mia," he whispered, his voice the texture of silken sheets—soft and inviting. "Have I not promised you a good time? Do not fret, the night is still young."

They became lost in each others eyes, and he bent his mouth to hers... once again.

"Oh for Christ's sake! Is that all you two do is make out? Jeez!" Lauren's whiny voice broke through all other conversation. Happy that the attention finally shifted to her for once, she grabbed Jessica and Mike, leading them out to dance. "I can't dance right to this music!"

Alice rolled her eyes and Emmett left her and Jasper to enjoy their own company. He crossed the room to his wife, swatting her on the ass and booming, "Hey Pumpkin, let's show these kids how to par-tay!"

Rolling her eyes at him, she followed anyway, never one to pass up a chance to show off.

He spun her around the floor, his eyes softening as her hair swung out and her face cracked into a tiny smile. "See, told ya we'd have a good time," he laughed, spinning her faster.

The party continued around them, more and more couples making their way to the floor. Garrett grabbed Kate, causing her to throw her head back and trill a tinkling laugh. Carlisle offered his hand to Esme. He led the bedraggled woman out to the floor, the dusty shawl in danger of slipping off her shoulders as he began to move their bodies in time to the music. Alice and Jasper linked fingers and moved to the edge of the floor, content to be alone together and away from the closely packed bodies of their family and the townies.

"See," Edward crooned, pulling Bella into the center of the throng of dancers, "I promised you a party..."

Sighing happily, she moved her body closer and melted into his embrace as he began to move them to the slow, haunting tune drifting out of the phonograph's horn.

Emmett and Rose whirled past the couple, caught up in their own world. Picking Rose up by the waist to spin her in the air, he lost his balance a little and almost dropped her on the floor.

"Watch it, you big lug!" she yelled at him. He put his hands up in a defensive position.

"Well, it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't gained a bit of weight back there," he grinned and reached to pat her less than ample rear end.

"Here it comes," Alice muttered to Edward and Jasper.

"What? What did you say to me?" she screeched, halting all other movement in the room. When he continued to grin, saying nothing, her body vibrated with temper. "I'll show you who needs to lose some weight, jackass!"

Before anyone could stop her, she pounced on Emmett and ripped his left arm from its socket.

A loud gasp rippled around the room, both frightened and amused eyes locked on the grisly scene playing before them. The townies' mouths hung open in shock and the girls backed into their date's arms, some of them turning their heads to hide in the boys' chests.

Jessica let out a loud screech when her backside met with Mike's suddenly soggy groin. "Ohmigawd! Did you, like, pee your pants?" she screeched, hopping away from him quickly and brushing a hand over her butt. "Holy shit, you did!"

Everyone in the room glanced quickly over to the boy, his Superman t-shirt half hidden behind the white button down. There, on his khaki-colored dress pants, was a very obvious wet mark.

Emmett doubled over in laughter. "Man of steel my ass," he chortled, making a move to clap his hands in delight. "Oh, yeah... Rose?" he questioned sweetly, shooting her a sheepish smile complete with dimples. "Rosie, baby, can I please have my arm back?"

The remainder of his severed arm caused the townies to run screaming out of the ballroom in terror. Tyler led the way out of the room, vaulting over a couch in the process. Following closely was Lauren flapping her arms crazily and emitting a series of high-pitched screams. Eric was next, stumbling over the hem of his costume, forcing him to drop the bow and arrows.

The sound of Jessica's click-clacking heels was almost as funny as the sight of the poofy white rabbit tail, now half attached and bouncing against her backside as she ran. Mike followed Jessica closely out the door, not too scared to miss the view she offered. His pants, still wet with the soaking he gave them moments before giving off an odor offensive to all left in the room.

The remaining vampires and the lone werewolf took off after them. Charlie croaked out a shaky "Hey", protesting at being left out of the fun.

"Sorry, Ch-Dad," Bella called out as she rushed to his side and swung him into her arms. He rolled his eyes, embarrassed at his forever-eighteen-year-old daughter carrying him as if he was merely a sack of potatoes.

The exchange took no time at all, and she sat him before the large picture window in the front room, making it just in time to see the hilarious sight of the retreating kids clearing the porch. Everyone crowded around, anxious for the show.

Eric, in his haste to get to the car, shoved Lauren out of the way, causing her to trip over a root and fall face first into the mud. Choking out a strangled scream, her mouth full of nasty wet dirt, she sprung back to her feet, spitting as she ran. Completely devoid of any sense of common courtesy in his petrified state, Tyler ran around her, digging for his keys as he did so.

Mike, still trying to redeem himself to Jessica, repeatedly attempted to take her in his arms to carry her to safety, but was met with several rebuffs before hearing her yell, "Stop trying to carry me, piss man!"

Head hanging down, he continued to the car. Ben pulled Angela along behind him, both of them giggling at their friends' misfortune. They dove into Tyler's van, the tires flinging a steady stream of mud behind them as they peeled away.

As they pulled away, Ben turned to Angela, his face awed. "How did they do that?" he wondered aloud.

Rose handed Emmett his arm with a satisfied smile. "Way to go, doofus," she said drolly, "now you've done it. We have to move, again."

"No!" Alice shouted, her face slipping into blankness as she searched their future. Edward began to chuckle softly behind Bella, slipping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him. Alice's face relaxed as the future told her what they all wanted to hear. "We can convince them it was all a trick. No one will be the wiser."

The family breathed a collective sigh of relief at the news. The vampires broke off to pursue other interests after the show outside was complete.

"Great party, guys," Emmett called over his shoulder as he and Rose made their way to their bedroom. "_Way_ better than the one we had for your twentieth anniversary."

Edward gently picked up his now sleeping father-in-law and carried him to his room, Bella following close behind. After tucking Charlie in soundly, the couple retreated to the wrought iron balcony in their lavishly decorated bedroom that overlooked the dark cemetery in the backyard.

A soft _whoosh _of air blew Bella's hair back slightly. She turned warm eyes to the mantel, where Edward had just lit the clustered grouping of candles. She smiled, her amber eyes alight with love for him. Holding out her hand for his as he returned to her side, she grasped it tightly and headed toward the open doors of their balcony.

They stood in the dark night, the candlelight from inside casting flickering shadows across their features.

"It was a lovely party, my beloved," she spoke quietly, not wishing to disturb the now calm air around them. "Thank you for giving it to me."

He pulled her into his arms, hands drifting to rest low on her back. He stroked her skin through the fabric of her dress, a content sound slipping from his lips.

"Anything for you, my love." He began to trail kisses up her arm ending at his favorite spot near the bottom of her ear.

No words needed between them, they turned in unison and drifted back into their room, the door closing with a quiet click behind them.

"Now, let me worship you."

* * *

**Happy Halloween! Hope you enjoyed our _cheesy_ tale. We had a lot of _fun_ writing it together!  
****And, honestly, don't take it so seriously, y'all. Fun is fun for a reason.**

**We have to thank _MusicJunki_ for the masterful beta job. Thank you bubb, we love you muches and bunches! Let us know who you thought each character was supposed to be.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	8. Small Steps

_A collab with my behbeh, MusicJunki. Canon-y. A new post. _

**Fun With Your Clothes On One-Shot Contest**

**Title: Small Steps**

* * *

**EPOV**

"Bella," I mumbled against her lips. The steady thump of her heart, already soaring as it was, increased. I listened to the beloved beat, ignoring the more deviant urges it brought forth in me.

"Mmph," was her reply. Her fingers tangled tighter in my hair; trying, I knew, to keep my mouth firmly glued to hers. We both knew her actions were ineffectual, in the end. Still, I enjoyed her actions. They made me feel loved...desired.

"Bella, love," I tried again, this time gently encircling her fragile wrists with my fingers. "Charlie is waiting." Chuckling at her frustrated growl, I placed one last lingering kiss and effortlessly loosed her hold from around my neck.

I smiled gently at the pout on her face, tracing soft circles on the insides of her wrists. Her pulse beat steadily against the delicate cover of skin, tempting and calling to my baser side, though I ignored it. "I'll be back soon," I promised needlessly. I would always be coming back to her.

Nodding sullenly—her desire to be nearer always tore at my weaker instincts—she sighed and removed her hands from my grasp before easing herself out of the car. I waited as she made her way to the front door, my eyes scanning the landscape for any perceived threat. Through vague flashes of Charlie's mind, I watched as he listened to my car idle in the drive. His anxiety spoke the loudest, eyes darting from the clock above the television to the front door as he anticipated his daughter's footsteps on the wooden porch.

Guilt momentarily flashed through me at this. She had so little time left with Charlie, and both I and my family had been encroaching on it so much as of late.

Bella had been spending more and more time at my house, subjected to the wedding-planning-whim of one Alice Cullen. Even as such, I already missed her warmth as she disappeared into her house, Charlie's mind both brightening and calming at the sight of her.

The more time I spent with my _fiancée, _the more I ached for her in her absence.

Her lovely form disappearing into the kitchen momentarily, Charlie's mind settled into the recent mood of both love and loss—how right he was on the latter—as I pulled away from the Swan residence. I breathed deeply, swallowing Bella's scent that remained in the car, ignoring the sting in my throat. The ever-present burn whose only remaining meaning was that Bella was made for_me_. I consciously licked my lips, still savoring the taste of her kiss.

_Her kiss..._

The feel and taste of Bella's lips on mine had become something I couldn't go without for any given length of time. All at once, it was more than I ever deserved and not nearly enough. Each day, it grew increasingly difficult to pull out of her embrace, more difficult to not give in to her pleas. More difficult to not turn the car around and steal her right back from Charlie...

Trying to appease my mind, I told myself that soon I wouldn't need to be separated from her; that _soon_, she would be in my bed every night.

The day Bella had finally started wearing my ring was one that replayed constantly in my mind. It wasn't simply because of that small symbol_—_the never-ending circle that proclaimed to all who saw that _Bella _had chosen _me_ for a sense of forever they might actually comprehend... No, it was the day that marked a shift in my supposed sense of 'control' entirely.

All of the decisions Bella had made up to that day were for the sake of others' happiness_—_for the sake of my own_—_when all I'd really wanted was to make _her_ happy in the end. So I'd been prepared to give her what she'd been asking for all along; to take what I shouldn't have before I had the right to do so.

The knowledge garnered from that one afternoon in the meadow was frightening and exhilarating all at once. I understood, now, what it was like to make the decision to give myself to her completely, as rash and impromptu as it was.

_"I love you. I want you. Right now."_

Right then, I'd caught a glimpse of what it would be like to grant my desire_—_something I'd long kept a tight grasp on_—_permission to rule my actions. In those fleeting moments, I could imagine clearly where those actions would take us. I'd never allowed my thoughts such free reign in that direction before, and a rush of excitement had flown through me, flashing fire through my cold veins.

I wanted to feel that again. Above all, I wanted to allow myself to feel _her_ in that way again.

_No._

Instantly, I berated myself for the thought. Bella and I had decided to wait. And even then, I couldn't be sure of my control...

_You stopped yourself then._

With a chuckle, I reminded myself that it was _Bella_ who had brought a stop to that situation. Only _her_ resistance, her surprisingly fierce reassurance that she wanted to stay true to our current path had been able to break me from my new determination. _She_ brought us back from that precarious edge that afternoon.

_But you could have kept going._

That thought gave me pause. After all, how easy would it have been to overcome Bella's frail human strength? To use my 'dazzling' capabilities to overcome her (our) better judgment?

The answer was obvious.

Bella, long susceptible to my maneuvering, would have given in. I could sense her warring emotions that day: the way her fingers clutched me tighter as she tried to push me away with words, the way her heart flew when I teased the fragrant skin of her neck with persuasive lips. But it wouldn't have been fair to use my advantages to gain my own wants.

_But you don't have to go 'all the way' to reclaim that feeling. That rush._

My mind quieted at that consideration as I curved along the familiar gravel drive. Similar reasonings had been presenting themselves with growing frequency. First teasing at the edge of thought, and then taking a prominent role whenever I was with Bella, _kissing_ Bella...and recently, in every moment we were apart as well.

_Knowing you have the power to restrain yourself, what's keeping you from pushing things just a little bit further? Or at least being a little freer with your affections?_

The more I contemplated that single afternoon, the more clouded my convictions became. Why _couldn't_ we push the envelope just a bit? I was fairly certain I had the restraint to stop well before Bella's...virtue could come into any real danger.

We could even just leave it at kissing a little longer, when I'd normally pull away...holding her a little more closely, when my mind screamed at me to put distance between us...tasting a little more of her skin, when I knew that one taste was enough to send my body into overdrive...

_You coming inside any time soon?_

Emmett's thought drew me abruptly from my musings. I hadn't realized I'd simply been sitting in the silence of my car until then.

_Or, you know, you could stay out there and daydream about Bella some more. Didn't you just spend all weekend with her?_

I could hear the joking smile in his thoughts and rolled my eyes. I didn't bother pointing out that a majority of that time had been appropriated by our planning-crazed sister. In a moment, I was nudging closed the door of the Volvo and entering the house. Unsurprisingly, Emmett was there to greet me in the foyer, arms folded and knowing smirk in place.

_Well, I don't think I need to ask if you got a goodnight kiss..._ He gave a purposeful sniff.

Rolling my eyes again, I shoved past him but with a smirk of my own tugging at my lips. I _liked _that I came home saturated in her scent. That I carried evidence proving I could act like a normal teenage boy who couldn't stay away from his girlfriend.

"Where is everyone?" I asked, ignoring more of his teasing thoughts.

"Hospital, upstairs, around..." Emmett answered casually.

I caught the somewhat confused tenor of a recent memory: he'd just acknowledged aloud the sound of me turning off the highway as he sat in the living room with Alice and Jasper. Alice had gone silent, the telltale blankness overtaking her features. I cocked my head at the amused expression on Jasper's face as she shook her head, grabbing his hand quickly. 'We're going out for a hunt,' she'd said nonchalantly, disappearing out the back door with Jasper in tow as my car came to a stop in front of the house.

I quirked an eyebrow in question at their sudden departure, to which Emmett simply shrugged.

"Beats me. Going back to Bella's in a bit?" _Why do I even ask? _He chuckled, already heading to the stairs with thoughts of finding Rosalie.

I shook my head in amusement, finding it unnecessary to answer my brother as he darted up the steps. "Esme?" I questioned aloud.

_Welcome home, Edward,_ she greeted me warmly from upstairs before her thoughts returned to flowers and decorations for the wedding. _Do you like it?_

She examined a drawn design she and Alice had been collaborating on for a dance floor in the back yard, given cover by garlands upon garlands of flowers. I pictured Bella and I dancing beneath the dripping strands and smiled to myself.

"It's beautiful, Esme. Thank you," I returned softly as I passed the second floor, heading to the third. I could sense her happiness at my approval, and she busied herself with more sketches as I entered my bedroom. I stood for a moment just inside my closed door, sighing at its emptiness and wondering what I was to do while Bella spent some time with Charlie.

Crossing the room, I looked out over the river, flowing black and silent with no flashes of reflected moonlight due to the thick blanket of clouds overhead. Its blank surface encouraged its mirror in my thoughts.

Ten minutes of...nothing passed as I stared at the water. _Surely I wasn't this listless before,_ I chided myself. But, I realized, that was what my life boiled down to: time with Bella and our loved ones, and then, minutes of...nothing. Time without her had no real meaning. It simply consisted of seconds I counted until I was with her once more.

I allowed my thoughts to return to my earlier considerations. Having outright acknowledged my desire to do more with Bella, I was fairly certain I'd be unable to quell it once I saw her again. I was finding fewer and fewer reasons to do so in any case.

_Small steps,_ I coached myself.

Without making the conscious decision to do so, I was flying back through the house and out the front door.

Bella could have her time with Charlie; I would just wait patiently in her room. I didn't care. I seemed to feel the distance from my house to hers more pointedly tonight, and I didn't like it. I pushed myself to close that distance faster, muscles bunching and releasing in the relief of a workout, the satisfaction more palpable because of the destination.

I was running back to my Bella. My fiancée.

I would always be going back to her.

Not noticing in my haste that the house was dark and silent, I slipped in through Bella's window easily, silently. I was surprised to find her form on the bed.

She'd been facing the window, perhaps anticipating my arrival. Her eyes brightened at my sudden appearance, her widening grin matching my own.

My slow intake of breath matched my slow steps to her bed; I needed her scent to fill my lungs again. The sweetness of her freshly-showered skin and fruity shampoo mingled with her blood to create a heady mix. I savored it, holding it in my lungs as I lay down beside her.

She inched away from me, trying to grant me more room on her small bed. I smiled and wrapped my arms around her shoulders instead, pulling her close. Her answering giggle melted into a sigh as she twined her arms around my waist, molding herself to my frame. My whole body instantly went lax as her warmth filtered through her covers and into my own skin.

Tilting her head back, she caught my gaze with her own. "Hi," she said softly.

The grins seemed permanently etched into our features. I briefly wondered if it was ridiculous to feel this much relief and happiness after being parted for barely an hour. Probably, but I didn't care. I nudged her nose with my own, slowly releasing my breath in a, "Hello," as I brushed kisses over her lips and cheeks. A shiver ran through her body as I heard the slight increase in her heart rate.

"How was Charlie? I wasn't expecting you to already be in bed. Actually, I was prepared to wait," I confessed, skimming my nose along her jaw. "But I'm glad I didn't have to."

She sighed. "Um..." I couldn't find it in me to feel bad for distracting her. "He's...he's good. He just seemed content to have me here. He'd already eaten dinner, so I caught him up on some general things with the, um, wedding, and sat with him while he watched TV. He was nodding off before long."

She pulled back a bit, her eyes traveling over my face. "I missed you." She laughed lightly then. "Is that silly? You were only gone for maybe an hour."

My chest lightened at her admission, seeing and feeling the warmth of her blush. "Definitely not silly." I kissed her firmly, reassuringly. At her soft whimper, I groaned quietly and spoke with my lips still connected to hers, "I missed you, too."

Further words were swallowed by kisses, slowly building from whispers of lips to the insistent molding of her mouth to mine. When her lungs begged for air, I allowed my kisses to wander—smooth cheek, to gentle curve of jaw line, to slender neck. All the while, I noted the quickened tempo of her heartbeat, her shallow breaths, and above all, the clean, sweet taste of my Bella.

_Does her skin taste the same everywhere?_

The unbidden thought pulled a low growl from my chest and my tongue slipped out to lave the skin at the hollow of her throat. The combined sensation and sound made Bella gasp.

Pulling back, I watched as the surprise in her eyes was quickly replaced with a familiar, intense heat. This would be the point where I would _normally _pull back, allow us both time to calm ourselves.

Still riding the high of being so close to her, I reached a conclusion. I'd made the decision earlier to not stop _quite yet_, and I wanted to make that intention clear—I could already see resignation beginning to reclaim that heat in her eyes.

Gently, always with extreme care to keep her happy and whole, I nudged her shoulder so she lay on her back. The heat, tinged with hopefulness, returned swiftly to her bottomless eyes as I leaned over her, head bowing toward her once again. Her heart fluttered and a smile spread across her beautiful mouth.

My parted lips covered the pulse throbbing at her neck. The inconsequential burn in my throat intensified, but was easily overlooked for the flame growing in my abdomen, my chest, my veins. Bella—her warmth, her closeness, her very _being_—brought fire to my ever-cold body. Tonight, I would choose not to extinguish it so quickly.

Taking care to keep my teeth away from her skin, I sucked lightly, pushing my tongue against her neck. _So sweet..._

I was rewarded with Bella's sharp intake of breath and hands quickly maneuvering under my arms to smooth around my back. Realizing she was trying to pull me closer, I shifted so I lay over her, supporting my weight with hands beside her shoulders and my knees near her thighs, pinning her underneath the thick comforter. The halt of Bella's breathing caused me to lift my head from her neck.

"No," she whispered in protest. Her tone and expression communicated her disappointment.

Perhaps she thought now was the moment I'd pull away. Her discouraged expression, the way her teeth instantly claimed her bottom lip between them and her eyes cast down, tore at me. How had that look alone not encouraged me to keep going before?

Determinedly, I sought to reassure her. My lips were returned to her neck, briefly repeating the same light sucking before retracing the path to jaw, cheek, and finally her succulent lips. Her muscles relaxed with each brush against her skin.

Knowing she would only be able to discern my breaths against her skin and not the words formed within, I whispered into her mouth between light kisses. "You are so beautiful, Bella, and I love you so much. I fear you'll never comprehend the ways in which I want you. I wish you to understand: I want you in every possible way there is for one being to desire another."

Emphasizing declarations unknown to her, one hand traveled to smooth along her swathed side. Her warmth teased me through the covers and I pressed my mouth to hers fully. The fire had grown stronger at my verbal acknowledgement. It spread lower, bringing a hardness that was more relatably human than the rest of my marble-like structure.

"Bella," I breathed her name in between firm kisses. Her panting breaths and thudding heart created a distracting soundtrack. "I want..." I swallowed thickly, unable to articulate my desire. Instead, I pushed up and onto my knees.

"Edward?" Her confusion did nothing to mar the lust in her hooded eyes, and I almost forgot the reason I'd pulled away.

Taking her hands in mine, I kissed each lightly before lifting and placing them gently above her head. What a picture she made, reclined the way she was—hair spread in damp tangles against her comforter, arms bent at the elbows just slightly. Desire personified, she was perfection. The confusion left entirely as I ran my hands down her extended arms, feeling the goose bumps raise on her skin as a shiver passed through her. I didn't think it was from my cold skin, either.

My eyes stayed trained on hers, knowing the flicker of want in her gaze was being reflected perfectly in my own. When I reached the edge of the blanket just underneath her arms, I paused only a moment before grasping it in my fingers, pulling slowly until I left it bunched at her waist.

"Is this okay?" I asked, unsure whether the traces of summer heat coming in through the open window would be enough to keep her warm.

Bella nodded wordlessly, her expression slightly curious and wholly eager.

Finally, I allowed my gaze to shift downward, traveling over her tank top-clad torso to the tiny fraction of bare skin just above the drawstring of her striped pajama bottoms. I placed my hands at her waist, thumbs caressing that sliver of skin. Another tremor rolled through her.

Fearing the heat at my fingertips, the scent of her around me, and sight of her beneath me would combine to undermine my self-control, I closed my eyes, needing to deprive myself of at least one sense. As it was, I wondered at my steady hands, sure I was trembling all over with my restraint.

After a few calming breaths, I opened my eyes again, following the swipes of my thumbs against her exposed skin. Bella shifted her hips, and a wave of a stronger scent hit me, one that taunted my human instincts and the growing problem between my own legs. I kept a careful distance from her, unsure how she'd react if I were to press _myself_ against her. Unsure of how _I'd_ react. How I'd stop myself from doing it over and over...

Gritting my teeth against the wanton growl building in my chest, I smoothed my hands upward over her covered sides until they encased her already heaving ribcage. Two stiff points straining the thin cotton drew my eyes, and I focused on them for a moment too long. I could see the skin just above the neck of her top had flushed red, though it garnered only half a second of my attention. My immediate focus was on the evidence of what my touch had done to her.

Another shift of her hips and my eyes darted to her face. There was no shyness in her features, only bright, heavily-lidded eyes and a plump lower lip caught between teeth. This would become my favorite Bella expression, I was sure.

I glanced back down to where my thumbs spanned toward each other a few inches below the swell of her breasts. I wondered how they would feel, if they were as soft as the rest of her... Of their own volition, my hands shifted upward again. Just before I could allow myself to sample their fullness, I retracted my thumbs, smoothing my hands along the sides instead.

"I could have you right now—I know you'd let me," I whispered too low for her to hear once again. "And I want to take you, so badly... But is that what's best for you? For us?"

I already knew the answer to my too-quiet question.

This was the first time I'd touched her with such purpose, and my touch was starting to lose its steadiness. I was beginning to worry over my withering ability to temper my strength. With that sobering acknowledgement, I realized I would need to stop. And soon.

With a quiet groan and a flurry of movement, I pulled the blanket back over Bella's trembling form and lay myself beside her again, keeping my hips far from her. Before she could express her disappointment, my mouth was on hers, trying to say with my lips, _I want you. Too badly. Just give me time._

"Edward," she murmured around my mouth, the flickering passion and simultaneous pout discernible in her voice.

"Small steps," I repeated my earlier affirmation quietly to her. I peppered kisses across her cheeks, her eyelids, an apology and a promise in the lessening intensity of each one. Disappointment didn't claim her expression as it usually did when I forced a stop to our interactions, a timid hopefulness taking its place.

Bella nodded minutely, understanding. She always understood, somehow. I began to hum her lullaby, a small offering of thanks to this glorious creature who had stolen my heart.

"Small steps," she echoed as her breathing slowed.

Stretching on my side, I caressed her cheek lightly before curling my arm around her waist. The tension left our bodies, leaving her soft and pliant in my arms. For now, I would ignore the simmering flame and watch my angel dream.

* * *

I slipped into the still darkness of Bella's empty room, filling my lungs with her scent once more after the run here. Charlie's snores reverberated through the quiet house, as well as the sound of the shower shutting off in the bathroom next door. I lay back on her bed to wait, arms folded behind my head. I smiled, reflecting on the past couple of weeks.

Two weeks.

Two weeks of small steps, of gaining control over the monster within and becoming closer to Bella. It was a test each time to see how long I could taste her skin before wanting my hands on more of her. To experiment with how long I could sample the heat of her skin before beginning to shake with my restrained strength.

There was hidden significance, now, to the innocent caresses given in the presence of others. Each touch brought memories of nights prior, of my hands finally traveling under thin cotton to raise goose bumps across her torso and back. But not yet where they wanted to mold to her skin most, to feel those peaks pebbling under my palms...

She'd spent the afternoon and evening with Charlie after another stretch of wedding planning madness. I loved her all the more for dealing with my overenthusiastic sister when I knew she'd be all too happy with eloping to Vegas instead. I'd dropped her off with little complaint, knowing she needed the respite and that I'd see her at the end of the day anyway.

My eyes shot to the door as I heard the padding of her footsteps in the hall. I could feel my body humming in anticipation as the knob turned. Her expectant eyes found me on her bed, brightening in happiness and not surprise, as usual.

She gasped when, in a flash, I was sitting upright at the edge of her bed. I hadn't been able to help it. While her beauty was something that always gave me pause, tonight she was..._stunning_.

In place of the expected cotton tank top and pajama bottoms was something entirely new.

A deep blue, silk camisole clung to her torso, matching shorts hugging her hips. My eyes couldn't take in the inches of bare skin quickly enough.

It wasn't until Bella shifted on her feet uncomfortably that I realized I'd just been staring at her silently. Her eyes darted around the room and she chewed at her lip nervously. Even in the darkness, my eyes caught the flushing of her skin.

"So beautiful," I managed to whisper. She heard my declaration and smiled shyly, finally moving into the room and shutting the door behind her.

She gasped again when I appeared in front of her. Impatient to touch her again, I wrapped her in my arms, burying my face in her neck.

"So beautiful," I repeated, breathing deeply. Her scent was always so much more potent after a shower, so fresh and appallingly luscious.

"I'm glad you like it," Bella said softly, shaking lightly. "Alice said you would."

"Alice?" I pulled back to look at her. Immediately, I understood Alice's temporary absence this afternoon and her inexplicable concentration on Jasper and Emmett's chess game when she'd returned just before I'd left.

"Yes, she left it here sometime today."

Unable to be cross with the effervescent Alice, I let my eyes sweep down the back of the girl in my arms, to where the fabric pulled a little tight. Curves only usually hinted at were plain as day, and my thoughts scattered.

Extricating herself from my arms, she took my hand and led me to her bed. Crawling under the covers, she left her arms free, holding them out to me. I wordlessly climbed in beside her. Instead of falling into her embrace, I tugged on the covers, pulling them off her completely.

"Please...I want to see you some more," I explained. She grinned and nodded, the thrill in her countenance warring with the shyness at being so exposed.

We usually started more gradually, light kisses turning more insistent. Then I'd allow the flame to spark, to show itself in my hands and lips on her skin. Tonight was different. The fire was already burning its way through my veins, down through my lower abdomen.

I moved to straddle her legs, sitting lower so I could memorize the new wealth of skin exposed to me. My hands begged to inspect the creamy skin of her thighs, and I was powerless to deny them. My fingers were already wrapping around them, traveling up and down slowly, locking the smoothness of the muscled flesh into my mind.

After a few passes, my palms continued upward over the fabric covering her hips, some part of my brain cataloguing the differing silken textures of the material and Bella's skin. I leaned onto my elbows when I reached the hem of her camisole. My hands dipped underneath, still traveling up as the material gathered at my wrists.

Seeing so much of Bella's skin only made me ache to see more, and I couldn't contain the low growl at the sight of her smooth stomach.

"Here. I need to taste the skin here_,_" I found myself murmuring too low for her to hear. Without another thought, my lips descended to press next to her navel, my tongue slipping out to swirl against her abdomen.

My ears caught the sound of Bella's gasp over the pounding of her heart. A shift of her hips sent up the delicious scent of her arousal, and I was hard.

Curious hands measured the expansion and contraction of her ribcage, felt the thudding vibrations of her heart. Another squirm encouraged me so I let my lips travel over her stomach, tasting more of her skin. It was all I could do to keep my hips pressed into the mattress and a respectable distance away from any part of my fiancée.

My hands stopped just beneath her breasts, thumbs feeling the hint of the rise of delectable flesh. I looked up to find Bella's eyes, a look akin to wonder accompanying the undisguised lust that lit her features. I wanted so badly to shred the flimsy silk from her body, to let my eyes feast on all of her before my hands did the same.

_No_, I told myself, y_ou can't_. I was already taking so much before I had the right as her husband. That she was giving me this should be enough, and I resolved to make it so. I could be patient for some things yet. Though, there were others I could experience in the mean time...

"Bella," I said against her skin, "I'd like to touch you."

"Please," was all she said, the single word sounding strained.

Removing my hands from beneath the fabric, I tugged her top back so it covered her once more. I inched forward over her legs and returned my hands to where they were before, just beneath her chest. I looked to her again and she gave a small nod, the excitement plain on her face.

Gently, I pushed my hands upward with a small, relieved groan. My mind was a whirl of emotions and thought as I curled my fingers around her flesh, feeling the weight in my hands.

I could feel Bella's eyes on my hands, as mine were. Pleasure shot straight to my groin at the sight and feeling of her softness cupped in my strong grasp. It was something I wasn't quite prepared for, and I gritted my teeth, focused on keeping my hold gentle as I massaged her.

Emboldened by my steady control, I finally swept my palms over each hardened peak. I quivered at the feeling of them scraping against my skin, not anticipating the thrill that rushed through me as they hardened further underneath my light touch. Bella whimpered and her hips jerked involuntarily, bringing her thighs in contact with my hardness.

I shuddered at the unexpected pressure and froze, unsure if she had noticed. Her eyes were glued to mine, hazed over with lust. Nothing changed in her expression, but when I felt her lift her thigh slightly, grazing my erection again, I knew she had.

I groaned at the realization that she enjoyed my reaction to her, and could find no power within myself to stop the maddeningly sensual pushes of her thigh against me.

_More._ I needed to do more for my Bella.

"Bella," my voice was hoarse. "I'd like to touch you… More of you."

Her chest ceased moving beneath my kneading hands before she let out in a gust of air, "Oh, god. Please."

In a moment I was beside her. I pulled the covers over one side of her, still allowing my hands access but hopefully keeping in some of her body heat.

Immediately, I was mesmerized by the sight of my hand traveling back down her torso, knowing its intended destination. Keeping my cold fingers above her shorts, my palm came to rest above her sex, cupping her.

Too much. I froze, body stiffening as my senses were overwhelmed. There was simply too much to take in: the wonder of seeing myself touching her so sensually, Bella's whimper and racing heart... the scent of her arousal. It overshadowed the scent of her blood in my mind, the fact it would linger on my hand now almost more than I could take.

Bella's hand on my chest reanimated me, drawing my attention to her face. Her look was almost wild and my chest rumbled lowly beneath her palm in response.

"Bella." Her name repeated under my breath before I crushed my lips to hers. At the same moment, I began to slide my fingers over the warm heat I held in my palm. Bella gasped for air around my mouth, pushing her hips into my hand.

A brush of fire against my erection stilled my movements. A glance downward revealed that it was Bella's hand, grazing against my jeans. My mind went blank.

"Please, Edward." Bella was still shifting against my hand, breathing warm gusts of scented air over my face. "I…I want to touch you, too. Please let me make you feel good, too."

I gulped audibly at her stated desire, quickly examining the state of my control. My muscles didn't tremble with my contained strength, only with my need for her. The light stinging at the back of my throat was inconsequential at worst; so many other sensations were overriding my bloodlust.

I felt awful for admitting I wasn't strong enough to refuse my overwhelming need to feel her touch, but I found myself nodding anyway.

I was torn between whose hands to watch as she let the back of hers graze over my zipper. I shuddered with the unexpected pleasure of such a light touch, and resumed the movement of my fingers. I reveled in the scorching heat of her arousal, feeling a certain wetness seep through the fabric. Dipping into the crevice there, I moved up to find her bundle of nerves, circling it tightly with my middle finger.

Bella cried out, hips lifting from the bed as her hand pressed deliciously against me. Overwhelming pride that I could make feel this way collided with my staggering lust. I covered her mouth with mine to help contain her passion and, admittedly, my own.

"Oh, my god, Bella…" I panted when I pulled away, still answering the swirl of her hips with circles of my fingers. "I never…never imagined…" Complete sentences were beyond me at this point, replaced instead with soft groans that accompanied her whimpers.

_Bella._

Time froze.

With one growled word and a more-than-apologetic kiss, I'd yanked the comforter to cover Bella completely, disappearing over the side of her bed away from the door. "Charlie," I hissed in explanation.

The door knob turned and Charlie poked his head in. I could hear Bella struggling to even out her breath as her heart continued to fly.

His appearance had taken me completely by surprise, and I was a little in shock at that fact. So lost was I to the sensations Bella elicited with just a single touch, in watching her reactions to me, I hadn't noticed the silenced snoring or approaching footsteps. I cursed my stupidity as her father's quiet breaths invaded the silence of Bella's room.

_Charlie never checks in on her anymore. Why now?_

I tuned in to the muddled thoughts of her father, catching glimpses of him doing this very thing in a dream he'd just had, only he'd found her bed empty. I could feel the quieted anxiety when he found her form lumped beneath the covers, seemingly asleep. A strong sense of nostalgia emanated from him, the picture in his head one of a tiny child curled under her grandmother's quilt.

Fascinated, I concentrated on the hazy emotions and blurry pictures that were all I'd ever been able to catch of his thoughts.

He thought, then, of seeing her in her room for the first time when she'd moved from Phoenix, the overwhelming sense of happiness the strongest sentiment of that memory. As he pulled her door closed again, sadness tarnished his mind as a picture of my family's house came up.

He would have to let her go again, soon.

I heard him moving down the hall toward the stairs instead of returning to his room, thoughts of hot coffee and weariness present in his mind. I crawled back into Bella's bed. Her wide eyes were already trained on mine. "What was that all about?"

I hesitated, smoothing her hair behind her ear, knowing this would likely make her sad. "He had a dream that you were already gone." I paused. "He's going to miss you."

She nodded slowly, wordlessly wrapping her arms around me. I let her believe that she'd hidden the moisture in her eyes by burying her face in my neck.

Rubbing her back soothingly, I began to hum her lullaby, knowing our moment of passion had passed. I didn't mind. After the leaps we'd taken tonight in terms of our physical relationship, there would be plenty of time for more small steps and boundary-pushing. But now, I would hold my angel while she remembered the sacrifices she'd be making for me, for our life together.

**BPOV**

"There's fettuccini in the refrigerator if you get hungry, and I made iced tea earlier, if you want any," Esme said, pulling my attention away from the rare sunlight shining its last rays of the day through the windows and onto the spot where Edward and I sat curled together on the couch.

The light picked up the array of colors woven through his coppery hair, shining red and brown and hints of gold like autumn on the East coast. Fascinated, I watched the colors mingle with the shimmer of his preternaturally stone-like skin. Though I'd observed his otherworldly beauty under sunlight before, it never failed to leave me in a state of awe.

"Oh! Um, thank you, Esme. For everything… you really didn't have to cook human food," I said, finally turning to look at my almost-mother-in-law. I would eat later, but right now I was absorbed with the angel sitting next to me. Esme smiled at me, coming over to brush a kiss across both of our cheeks before she headed out the door.

The male contingency of the Cullen clan (minus Edward, who was staying with me on this heaven-sent free weekend) were heading out for a weekend of hunting—and roughhousing, if Emmett had his way. The girls, on the other hand, were off on a road trip for wedding supplies.

A road trip that I was, thankfully, not required to participate in.

Alice had gone overboard on the wedding details, as I knew she would. My pleas of _small _and _intimate _fell on ears that I knew were capable of hearing everything—vampires missed nothing. She just chose not to listen. Currently, said tiny little gremlin was whirling around the room in a white streak, adding more swatches of fabric and magazines to her oversized shoulder bag.

I sighed, rolling my eyes before going back to watching Edward. His brow was furrowed, a cross look on his face as he watched Alice dance across the living room of the Cullen's house. "Is she keeping you out again?" I asked quietly in his ear. Alice could still hear me, but I ignored that detail.

An infinitesimal nod of his head was the only response I received.

_Okay then, _I thought to myself. He'd tell me when she left.

Reveling in the easy closeness we'd gained this summer, I tucked my woolen sock-clad feet under Edward's leg and rested my cheek against his chest. His arm automatically curled tighter around me, fingers dancing across the small patch of skin exposed between my tee shirt and the waistband of my jeans. I sighed at the low pulse of electricity that flowed from his skin to mine.

Cool lips against my hair brought my attention back in time to see Alice breeze her way out the door, emitting a high-pitched goodbye. I had become accustomed to her excitable speed, and her sudden absence left Edward and I in blissful silence.

"Thank God," I breathed after I was sure they were miles away. "If I have to hear about napkins or flowers one more time..."

I rested my chin on his chest and peeked up at him. He was still watching the front doorway Alice had just sped through, a perplexed expression on his face.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I suppose," he sighed. He shook his head once and glanced down to meet my eyes. "She was keeping me out—maybe she was thinking about your dress again."

I shrugged. "Maybe."

"What do you want to do this weekend? Alice was thinking about more wedding planning when they returned on Sunday, but I can steal you away and save you." He smiled, lightly running a cool fingertip across my arm.

I groaned. "What more does she need to plan? She's already gone overboard enough as it is."

"Vegas is still an offer," he said, smiling down at me.

For the millionth time since I'd met him, I wondered how I had gotten so lucky. This perfect creature, truly the most breathtaking thing I had ever seen, wanted _me_. Plain, shy, fumbling Bella Swan.

_Well, maybe I can call Ripley's and add another 'believe it or not' to their list._

Getting back to his offer, I laughed lightly. "No, we'll do it her way. Besides, I really can't wait to see you in a tux again."

"Okay then," he said.

As simple as that we lapsed into an easy silence, both more than likely lost to our own thoughts. Did his travel down the same path as mine?

The past month had been interesting, to say the least. Dates and making out in the car in front of Charlie's house, stolen private moments which ended in toe-curling kisses, and 'practice sessions' that left me both fulfilled yet eager for more.

It was the closest we'd come to a normal relationship the entire time we'd been together.

Emboldened by how far we'd come, I had _plans_ for this weekend—a stepping up of the schedule, the crossing of more lines, dipping our toes into deeper waters, so to speak. Would he go for it? He still held part of himself back, but I hoped so.

"Can we just stay around here this weekend?" After all, there was a bed here—that was one of the main factors in my plans.

"Hmm?" His eyes flashed to mine, the darkened color an indicator that he more than likely _had_ been thinking of similar things.

I took a deep breath to quiet the funny flutters in my belly—an automatic response to this freer, more physical side of him. "Can we stick around here this weekend? I'd love to do nothing but read and hang out with you."

"That sounds perfect," he agreed, his voice light and velvety.

So went the rest of our night. We lay curled up on the couch, me with a book and Edward reading over my shoulder occasionally. I ignored his ribbing at my choice of Austen, yet again, but he seemed content enough just to rest his chin on my shoulder, pressing occasional kisses on my cheek or neck and playing with strands of my hair.

As the light outside faded into the inky blackness of night, I closed my book and stretched my prone limbs. Instead of the noise of cars driving by on pavement and the buzz of porch lamps that were a constant at my house, the quiet from the forest surrounding the Cullen's place left me dreamily content. A yawn escaped unbidden, and I glanced at the antique clock on the mantle.

"I didn't realize it was so late." Midnight had come and gone, giving way to single-digit hours.

"Are you tired?" he asked.

"A lit—"

Before the second word had even escaped my lips, he'd swung me up into his arms and was halfway to the stairs.

"—tle." I finished.

He laughed, the sound washing over me and eliciting my own.

"Alice put your bag in the bathroom," he said conversationally, never once looking down at his feet as he ascended the stairs.

I couldn't wait to be able to do that...

Quicker than I could blink, we were at the door to said bathroom, across the hall from his room. He placed me gently on my feet, hand hovering behind me in case I should have a sudden—not entirely unexpected—case of the clutzies.

"I'm not gonna fall," I laughed, not even pretending to be affronted. Edward would do as he always had; I expected it to last even after I was a vampire. It was his way with me and old habits were hard to break.

"Just making sure," he said. After a soft tap on my behind, he retreated to his room. The playful touch surprised me, but made me smile wide.

The shower was warm and soothing, the rainfall showerhead a luxury compared to the detachable nozzle at my house. Alice had long ago lined up bottles of all my preferred toiletries in the shower stall. I picked the strawberry-scented shampoo up and finally began to wash my hair. A shave and some scented body wash later, I was clean and smooth. I stood under the hot water until my skin began to redden, and then stood there a little longer. A good shower couldn't be rushed.

When my hands and feet began to prune, I reluctantly turned off the water. The geriatric look was not a good one for me. I stood in the third floor bathroom, working the knots out of my hair and gearing myself up for my plans.

I was, of course, nervous. Though Edward had been more open to our…_explorations_, I wasn't quite sure how he would react to my advances tonight. Squaring my shoulders, I took a deep breath and called out to him in a voice barely above a whisper. I knew he would hear it.

"Edward?"

Smiling to myself, I counted the seconds in my head. One…two…

"Did you need something, Bella?" His low, rich voice sounded on the other side of the door and I sighed.

"I, um… do you have a shirt or something I can sleep in? I forgot to pack pajamas."

"I'm sure Alice has something—"

"No! I mean, her things are too small. Can't I just have one of your button-downs? I like to be comfortable when I sleep."

"Sure," he said, sounding perplexed. My behavior was out of the norm, I had to admit. I wondered if he wished I had brought my little sleep set that Alice had gotten me—he'd reacted excessively well to it the first time...

I looked at my complexion in the mirror to see pink cheeks—both from the warm water of my shower and private blush—and shining brown eyes. Eventually there was a knock on the door. I steeled myself, wrapping my hand firmly over the top of my towel and cracking the door open.

Edward stood there, eyes moving up from my toes to the tip of my head with a cream-colored shirt folded in his hand. "Thanks," I whispered, taking the shirt from him. He seemed to be far away in his thoughts and it took him a couple of seconds to answer.

His amber eyes finally met mine. "There's a pair of shorts, also. I'm sorry; my pajama pants are too long for you…"

"This is perfect," I assured him, hoping my heartbeat didn't betray how nervous I really was. "I'll be right out."

When I 'd closed the door firmly behind me, I tossed the clothes on the counter and grabbed my underwear. I wished I owned something nicer than the white cotton, but anything more than the bikini cut bottoms that I held in my hands would probably give me a panic attack. Or send Edward racing after his family for help.

_Yeah, that wouldn't really help me with my plans…_

Baby steps—that was what we needed. Maybe someday, when this wasn't so new to us, I would have the courage to break out the lace and satin.

I slid into the grey boxers, giggling a little when I had to roll the waistband up a few times to make them fit. With his shirt on, a few buttons left undone at the bottom, I flicked off the bathroom light and walked into the hall.

Edward waited for me just against the wall opposite the bathroom, and I wondered whether he had been there the whole time, or if he had moved there when he heard the door open. He probably just wanted to make sure I didn't fall and break another leg between the bathroom and his bedroom.

_Silly, overprotective vampire._

My mind conjured an image of us, fifty years down the road. Would he still be as protective as he was now when I was just as unbreakable as him?

...Probably.

I watched a blank expression flash across his face briefly, before he swallowed thickly. His whole body seemed a little tense. "Are you tired?"

"A little," I said, walking toward him on shaky legs. Maybe it _was _a good thing that he was there. Nerves hit my system like a freight train, causing me to falter in my next step. He noticed, of course.

Chuckling, he said, "Let's get you into bed."

Once I was situated into my usual cocoon of blankets, he lay down beside me and propped himself up on his elbow. The low light from his bedside lamp and his position cast his face into shadows, making his jaw seem more defined and the slope of his nose even more perfect than usual.

_So beautiful. And all mine._

Leaning down, he pressed his glass-smooth lips to mine, capturing my top lip between his. I tried to maneuver my way closer to him but got caught in a tangle of blankets and legs.

"Damn it," I swore under my breath. "I can't wait until all of this," I swept my hand down the blankets, "is unnecessary."

A sharp intake of breath brought my eyes up to meet his.

"What?" I asked, even though I already had a clue.

"I wish you weren't so blasé about this," he said. "I know it seems like I fixate on this—really, I do. But, Bella... I wish you weren't so eager to throw your life away."

"I'm not," I said. I held up a finger at his confused look. "Wait, hear me out. It's true, I am eager to become...like you. But, more than that, I'm eager to really and truly start our lives together. There is a dichotomy between us, you have to admit that. I'm weak, you're strong. I constantly hurt myself, you could lose an arm and not flinch. It feels out of balance. And, in my eyes, I'm not throwing anything away. I'm gaining you, which is a helluva lot more than I could ask for."

I pressed a kiss against the side of his mouth, lingering on the spot for just a beat longer than necessary before brushing my lips over his. He sighed against my lips with his cool breath and responded in turn, reaching up to brush my hair back over my shoulder. As I tried to reach for his shoulders, he pulled me half onto him. My leg draped over his upper thigh and I snuggled in closer to him, reveling in the difference of the muted chill of his skin through his pajama pants in comparison to my overheated flesh.

His jaw tensed and he broke his lips from mine. "So, renovations aside, you just want...me?"

It was ridiculous how I had to assure him. Clearly, it should be the other way around.

"Duh," I said, rolling my eyes. "That's the whole point. What was it that you said to me about not seeing myself clearly? Pot, meet kettle."

"I love you," he laughed, hugging me tighter to him.

My body molded to his in interesting ways, and my stomach jumped again at the feel of the hard lines of his chest and legs. I dropped a kiss onto his bare chest, inhaling a lungful of his yummy, sweet scent.

Feather light and slow, his hand moved from my hair and down my back, across my hip to rest on my thigh. He drew tantalizing patterns with just the tips of his fingers, both teasing and tormenting me with soft, languid touches. My heartbeat thumped loudly in my ears and increased its pace. His mouth moved back to mine, suddenly insistent. Our kisses lasted longer before he would break away and place his smooth, cold lips over my throat, my collarbone, and the spot behind my ear that I particularly loved him to give attention.

I sensed a conflicted desperation beneath his care and reserve by the way he clutched me tighter to him and how his fingers moved lightly in wide arcs to the inside of my thigh and back. I rose on my knees and settled astride his lap.

"Is this okay?" I asked, leaning down to run my tongue under his jaw. My mind fogged as I breathed in his honeyed fragrance.

"Mmm...Yes," he mumbled, his hands already busy arranging me more comfortably over him.

I smiled against his cold skin, delighted when his hands moved from my legs to my backside, pulling me closer.

This Edward, while still careful, was so different from what I was used to. His hands lingered longer, his lips a bit more needy when they met my own. I couldn't wait to experience _all _of him, to see him let go and give in to a hundred plus years worth of built up tension. It was sobering to realize that he had suffered for much longer than I had. I felt a small bubble of shame for pushing him the way I did. As if sensing my miniscule hesitation, his wandering hands brushed those thoughts aside as he parted my shirt and exposed my stomach to his eyes with a boyish curiosity and reverence.

Suddenly self-conscious, I looked down to meet his amber eyes, but they weren't on my face.

He stared at my now bared flesh, eyes hungry and low-lidded as he reached a hand to brush over my navel and down to my hip. I bit my lip, waiting for him to say something.

"I don't—" he started, and then cut himself off. His eyes flashed up to mine, and I felt suddenly small by the emotion I saw swimming in them. "In all of my time spent wandering this earth, alone and distant, I never dreamed I would have something like you in my life."

I leaned down, hovering over him and dragged my hands through his unruly hair, before clasping them behind his head as I brought my lips to his. I'd never been as good with words as he was; I doubted I ever would be, but I tried to pour everything I felt for him into that kiss, to show him that I felt the same way, too. It was slow and deep, brimming with affection and love.

Something in the atmosphere shifted, tightening and crackling like the air had been sucked out of the room. I shifted my hips forward, brushing across the part of him that had grown steadily firmer as we kissed and touched.

His hands shot out to my waist, stilling me.

I tried not to feel hurt. We had come so far in only a few short weeks, after all, but my eyes immediately closed and I suppressed the urge to groan at being stopped again. A girl's ego could only take so much...

"Not so fast, Bella," he said in a thick voice, rolling me off until my back rested flat on the mattress beside him. "Let me work up to that, please?"

Thrilled that it wasn't a definite _no, _I turned my gaze back to him, noting the doubt and uncertainty in his face. Another flicker of remorse hit me. He _had_ been so much more open lately, who was I to get my knickers in a twist over his needing time to acclimate?

_Besides,_ I told myself, _the buildup might be fun..._

"Sorry," I acknowledged aloud. "It's just we've come so far that I didn't realize—"

"Don't apologize, love. I just… can we go at my pace?"

"Of course," I agreed, reaching up to brush a lock of errant curls off of his forehead. "Whatever you need."

He smirked at that, some private joke probably flitting through his mind and I smiled in return. His face looked so boyish, so uncertain as he glanced down at my partially exposed form. I rushed to assure him.

"It's just me and you, Edward. Try not to over think this."

Sighing, he turned on his side to pull me into his arms. He tipped my head back with a gentle tug of my hair and slanted his lips over mine. Hesitant, not wanting to startle him, I flattened my hands on his chest and curled my fingers where his heart should beat.

It was strange how his cold skin could make mine burn further, feverish with need. I wished that our electricity could flow from my fingers to that long-still muscle, jumpstarting it. It was a silly wish, and I wondered if a human Edward would be any different from the one I had fallen in love with. Would green eyes be as lovely as ochre ones? Would his voice be so soft, so melodic? Would he hold me with so much care and love?

No, I decided, I was happy with the Edward I had now. I really couldn't wish for anything better, because there_ wasn't_ anything better than him. Instead I settled for showing him through soft touches and eager lips how I accepted him not for who he couldn't be, but for who he _was_.

Down my arm and over my hip, his hands slipped to the back of my leg. Pausing there with held breath, he tempted the skin beneath my shorts with his thumb, running slow circles at the spot where my bottom met my leg. My own breath hitched. I wanted those hands, those strong, sure fingers in other spots, so I took a move from his playbook and hitched my leg over his hip, curling it around his lower back snugly.

He moaned against my mouth, pushing himself against my warmth by bringing his hands to rest over my cotton-clad derrière. With a firm grip on my rear, he gracefully shifted until I rested beneath him, one leg fixed around his back and the other sandwiched between us. He broke away from our kiss, lips leaving moist, cool trails down my neck to where the buttons began on his pilfered shirt that swathed me.

"I wish I could explain how arduous this is for me," he whispered against the exposed swell of my breast. Slowly, his lips brushed the skin, sending a jolt of sensation to my belly and beyond. "How much I struggle between what's right, and what I want."

"I know," I whispered, winding my hands into his soft hair. "I can't quite comprehend your struggle, but I know the conflict. Trust me, I know. I'm grateful every day that you're so strong-willed and that you love me enough to try."

"I do," he said simply.

I brought his mouth back to mine. He held his weight off me with elbows braced at the sides of my head, thumbs brushing the apples of my cheeks. Affectionately, he licked my top lip, then my bottom one. I wanted so badly to dart my tongue out and kiss him _for real_, but that would have to wait for now. I let him go at his own pace, just as he needed to.

I lost myself in his smell, his touch, and the taste of him that lingered on my lips. He ran the bridge of his nose down my jaw and to my throat and my breathing picked up. His hips carefully leaned down on mine.

I rolled my hips experimentally, stoked when he not only allowed it, but answered with a slight shift of his own.

Goose bumps rose on my skin. His own breathing increasing with unneeded oxygen as his cool fingers swept across my too-hot stomach. My eyes squeezed shut and I titled my head back in anticipation. The seconds stretched as he ventured lower and lower until he reached the waistband of my—his, technically—shorts.

I briefly wondered if his cold touch would soothe the burning of the change I was set to embark on in just a few short weeks.

I hoped it would.

He hooked a finger under the fabric and moved back until he was on his knees in between my parted legs. I lifted my lower half off of the mattress, biting my lip as he slid the boxers past my hips and tossed them aside. The picture I presented was one I hoped he liked as he took in my white cotton and the partially unbuttoned shirt. Somehow, he had managed to unbutton all but two buttons that held the shirt together across my chest.

_Sneaky vampire..._

I watched him swallow in the ambient light from the lamp, eyes trained on the myriad of emotions that crossed his face. Doubt, love, lust... They flickered briefly, the last one remaining as he crawled his way back to his earlier spot between my thighs.

"You're beautiful," he whispered when he resumed his position. This time, he initiated and rocked his lower body against mine. I moaned out my approval, responding to the fraction of his weight that pressed into me.

Apparently that was all the encouragement he needed. He began a needy dance of push and pull, hips rubbing against me and away in a steady, maddening pace. Slow at first, then faster until I was a mess of whispered wants and pleading eyes. Using my quiet, indicative sounds, he alternated between gentle movements and longer, firmer snaps of his hips. Our heavy gazes locked, and we watched the sway of lust and emotion play across. It all felt so good: his hands grasping my hips, the way he slid against me and touched that spot that sang for more.

Sensations began to build in the pit of my stomach, traveling lower until the ache between my legs was a persistent, throbbing satisfaction.

"Edward," I keened, "I—I want..."

"Tell me, sweet girl. I'll give you the world if you just ask."

"You." And that was it—the very thing I pined for. My lips went to his neck, teeth grazing the hard stone skin.

In a quick, blinding move he flipped us, situating me upright and above him. I fumbled for a moment to catch my bearings. His hand slid up my stomach until it reached the buttons of my shirt. Before I could blink they were undone and he parted the fabric slightly, leaving my breasts covered. I waited for him to slide it off, to leave me vulnerable and visible, but he didn't. Somehow, I understood.

He wanted his first glimpse of me—all of me—to be on our wedding night. Deep down, I wanted that, too.

That still didn't stop his curious hands from moving under the fabric. With light, uncertain movements, his wintry palms cupped my responsive flesh. Something about the arctic-like chill of his skin sent my heart racing, and I continued to roll my hips over him, back and forth. Timid undulations of my lower half brought him to and away from me, the hard edges beneath his pajama pants brushing the hot spot hidden by my unassuming white cotton. The throb built again and I automatically threw my neck back and increased my pace.

His breath caught in a hiss and he kept me held away from him by wandering, gentle hands traversing the length of my torso, holding onto my hips for moderation, tightening his fingertips at the tops of my thighs. Entirely aware of a painful, yet pleasurable and somehow perfect need that was forming, I moved faster still.

"Oh, Bella," he groaned, clenching my hips with an almost bruising pressure and shifting me off of him. "I—it's too…"

I landed with my head near the bottom of the bed, my shirt finally shifting open and the wind momentarily knocked out of me. I didn't care, savoring the rush of endorphins that stole through my body. His stone-cold forehead pressed against my stomach and marble-smooth lips whispered cool drafts against the damp cotton of my underwear. When he inhaled and pressed his lips at the spot, something inside of me flared, constricted and then burst. Shocking waves of pleasure tore through my entire being and I gasped with a long moan. My thighs clamped around his head, and I called out his name in a guttural tone, feeling like a puddle of boneless content.

His shoulders shuddered beneath my legs as his tongue moved down to lick beaded moisture from my sticky-hot thighs. He called his love for me as his body jerked once then stilled completely. Some small part of my mind wished he would have let himself go while I was still on top of him, that I was able to witness his face as our movements brought him to that point... but the part that knew him so well was aware that his controlling nature wouldn't have allowed it.

The sound of my ragged breathing filled the room as I uncurled my fingers of my left hand from the death grip on his comforter and went to smooth his hair. I closed my top with the right—he may have caught a flash, but I wasn't going to leave them bare to the wind. I scratched his scalp, still too shattered to speak.

For minutes we lay silent, still and sated. He peppered sweet kisses down my legs to my ticklish toes as he rose to his knees and he smiled that smile I loved best. In a flash he was gone, startling me. He was back in seconds with a warm washcloth in hand to clean up the mess we'd made..._together_.

The girl I was two months ago would have been embarrassed at the events of tonight, at how wanton and eager I'd been. The girl I was now, however, was only happy that her fiancé had allowed himself to feel and act upon how much she wanted him. I waited for him to join my side again, already snuggling into the covers and relishing the weightless feel of my body.

Only when he had me safely cocooned in the usual burrito of blankets did his velvet voice break the silence.

"Thank _you_ for loving me enough to try."

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**Thank you to BittenBee for the beta. We love you.**

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	9. In My Life

**A teeny, tiny little oneshot I wrote for a friend for her birthday...and it's highly influenced by listening to 'In My Life' by the Beatles a time too many. Unbeta'd, so all mistakes are mine. **

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There have been times in my life when I've struggled to recall memories: the sound of my little brother's laugh; my Ma calling us boys in to wash before supper; the giggle of the first girl I kissed. These memories are near to lost to me, now.

Growing up in the craggy hills of the Appalachians was fun, from what I remember. My existence wasn't grand, nor was it terribly interesting, but it was mine and I liked it. I didn't aspire to be much more than my Pa was: a simple man surrounded by his wife and children in the evening, working the land by day.

In my time, I was a wild sort of guy. I'd kissed my share of ladies, and went a little further with others who couldn't honestly be called ladies. Tussling with animals that I had no right to was my ultimate downfall.

Not that I regret it, mind you. I'm still a little peeved that I lost, though.

Damn bear.

There will never be a part of me that doesn't miss the people who came before. With the restrictions put on our kind it's not been easy to do, but I've kept up. The people who I had to leave behind led easier lives, due to "anonymous" contributions, once I was able. The McCarty name has died out, but I still have kin of different names that I watch over and take care of from behind the security of cloaked accounts.

There are some parts, though, that I wouldn't give up for all the gold in the hills.

Those damn bears don't stand a chance, now. I've seen and learned more than I ever would have, growing up a poor mountain man. Far off lands and sights that no mortal will ever dare to imagine. Most importantly, I wouldn't trade anything for the angel that saved me. She's a tough old girl, but you just have to know her to see the goodness hidden behind the pretty packaging.

Yes, there are other sounds, sounds of laughter, of family, and of love, that I can recall with pristine detail: the sound of my little brother's laughter, now that he has someone to laugh with; how my Ma scolds us to clean before we enter the house after supper; the giggle of the last girl I'll ever kiss.

It's amazing how some things never change. My existence isn't grand—it's secretive and taxing at times (and going to school forever will _never_ be interesting), but it's mine, and I like it.

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**Thank you for reading. :)**


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